Silver Tongue, Golden Tongue
by biolumo
Summary: (An alternate TDW) Jane and Thor are reunited, but are interrupted by Jane's friend Ada, a Norse linguist. When Ragnarok threatens, Jane and Thor must go to Asgard, but Ada is transported as well and is locked up on arrival. What else would a trapped scholar do but study her fellow prisoner, a former prince of Asgard? But Loki is interested in her as well, for his own reasons...
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

"I'm still not entirely sure how you got me to agree to this, Ada", Jane said disdainfully, adjusting her hairband. The two stars sticking up from it on springs bounced back and forth for emphasis.

"Oh come now, _Doctor _Foster!", Ada said, emphasizing her friend's new title. "I hardly think coming with me to a Halloween fancy dress party will be that painful. It's only with the university faculty. Besides, you still owe me for finding someone to translate that article so you could cite it in your dissertation!"

Jane closed her eyes and exhaled slightly, frowning. "Well, it wouldn't be, if I were wearing something other than... _this_", she gestured to her costume, stars bobbing angrily. She wore a floor-length midnight blue gown with thin straps, made of imitation velvet, with a variety of glittery star stickers haphazardly scattered across it. "Also, I'm pretty sure this is at least the second time you've called in that favor. Anyway, I thought our costumes were supposed to be based on our academic specialties. Shouldn't you be dressed like a rune or something?"

"The thought crossed my mind... and it would be an amusing pun on my name. Aðalrun, "noble rune"", she smiled, pleased with herself. Although years of mispronunciation by friends, colleagues, and telemarketers had reduced her to introducing herself with the (still mispronounced) nickname "Ada", Aðalrun would announce her full name and its meaning fairly regularly given that...

"Ha-ha, yes, I know, you're a linguist focusing on Old Norse with the word "rune" in your name, how craaaazy", Jane said sarcastically, but with a smile. "You may have mentioned it once or twice over the course of our academic careers."

Ada grinned sheepishly. "What do you think of my costume though?"

She held her arms out in a grand gesture. She wore a long black cape affixed to her shoulders with metal plates over a flowing green wool dress. Around her waist hung a brown belt with a large pouch, and a short black veil covered her hair, held in place by a green band with two miniature golden deer antlers sprouting from it. To finish the ensemble, she wore a bronze gorgette and several strings of beads around her neck and carried what looked to be a spinning needle that lost a fight with a bedazzler.

"It's... er... more seasonally appropriate than my costume", Jane said, pulling on her coat and throwing a handbag over her shoulder. "What _are _you, anyway?"

"I'm a _volva_!", Ada threw a preemptive dirty look at Jane, anticipating the poorly muffled snort her friend gave at the sound of the word. "A Norse seeress and practitioner of _seithr_, Norse magic... I guess you could just call me a _seithkona_. It's easier, I suppose", she conceded, opening the front door of her flat onto the busy London street.

"Yeah, well, we wouldn't want the sexual studies and anatomy professors too excited, would we?", Jane laughed as she walked out the door. "Come on, let's get this over with."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The fancy dress party was in full swing by the time Jane and Ada arrived. It was being held in one of the classroom buildings on campus, as the university students were having a similar gathering in the student union, and the professors and staff were not too interested in living it up with their pupils. Jane, as a visiting researcher, had been invited by the astrophysics professors she worked closely with, but had only just agreed to attend the day of the party (due to Ada's incessant prodding). Ada, a doctoral candidate in linguistics, was technically not on the guest list, but had managed to sweet talk her way into an invitation after analyzing a particularly stubborn bit of data that one of her busy professors simply did not have time to deal with.

Ada made her way to the punch bowl with Jane in tow. "I see an awful lot of white lab coats." she said over her shoulder accusingly. "Aren't you glad you went with the creative option?"

Jane, clearly not used to maneuvering in a gown, looked down at her feet somewhat nervously. "Not particularly", she glanced up to shoot Ada a look, then quickly returned to monitoring her feet. "I feel like a loon...", she said, mostly to herself.

"Cheer up!", Ada said, smiling brightly and handing Jane a cup of punch. "You look lovely. And you're going to have some great photos to send to that long-distance boyfriend of yours!"

The remark caused Jane to momentarily look up with a sort of deer-in-the-headlights look, then turn her face away slightly. Ada regarded her with concern. "Is... everything alright with that?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh, yes, it's fine. Just fine", Jane waved her off unconvincingly, staring into the middle distance. Ada furrowed her brow, obviously not buying it. Jane sighed, and looked off to the side slightly. "It's just... we haven't seen each other in a year, and he's not really the best at keeping in touch..."

She was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She spun to face the source of the contact, one of the several individuals in attendance wearing lab coats, visually glad to be distracted from that topic of conversation. "Doctor Miller! Hello!"

"Jane!", the middle aged man said, smiling. "I really didn't expect the pleasure of your company tonight. I must admit that when Doctor Yates said you would be in attendance, I was skeptical", he laughed. "And I do compliment you on your inspired costume; I fear we old English astrophysicists lack the bravery of you young Americans!"

"Oh, you can blame this disaster of an outfit on the humanities, thankfully", she gestured to Ada, who had gathered a selection of grapes, cheeses, and crackers onto a plate for them to share. She smiled and nodded in the direction of the doctor. Doctor Miller looked at Jane questioningly. "She's a linguistics doctoral candidate. We did our undergrad together, we were in the same honors society", Jane clarified.

"Hey, language is a science too!", Ada said indignantly, coming to stand next to Jane. She offered her cheese plate, and Jane accepted a grape.

"Well, now that I'm speaking to you outside of the lab for once, I must ask- how is Erik doing? I trust he is recovering well from his injuries?", Doctor Miller enquired. Jane swallowed the grape hard.

"Ah, yes, I actually just recently spoke to him on the phone from his hospital in New York. He sounds desperate to get back to work! I'm pretty sure he's smuggled in some of his equipment, so he doesn't get too bored", Jane said, a little too perky.

Ada had been with Jane when the disaster happened in New York; she was in Norway for research anyway, and was visiting Jane at her unexpected new post in the lab at Tromso when the news broke. Shortly after, Jane's intern, Darcy, burst into the room and hauled Jane off in a hurry somewhere. Jane called her the next day to apologize, and told her that her mentor, Erik Selvig, had been injured in the attack, but had been rescued by the same team of heroes that saved the city- the Avengers. Ada had resisted making horrible excited noises to Jane over the appearance of not one but TWO Norse gods, out of concern. The resulting flood of academic funding for both Ada and Jane's subjects of study after the incident brought the two women to where they were now- University College London.

"That Erik!", Doctor Miller said with a chuckle. "He never could sit still for long! Although, how could you with this influx of new data on Einstein-Rosen Bridges? He must be bouncing off the walls, especially having seen one first hand!"

Jane smiled and stuffed her mouth full of cheese. Jane would usually avoid the subject of Doctor Selvig with Ada, due to what Ada could only assume was anxiety over his condition and the trauma he suffered. She knew that when Jane and Darcy had flown out to visit him in the hospital, he was apparently worse than they expected, although Ada never heard what exactly his injuries were.

A jingling sound from inside Jane's purse broke the increasingly awkward silence. She fished her phone out from within its deep pockets as it continued to light up and vibrate. Her eyes widened. Ada caught a glimpse of the name displayed on the screen- Erik Selvig.

"Hello?!", Jane thrust her purse onto Ada's free arm, answered the phone, and covered her other ear with her hand in one quick motion. "Erik! What... are you sure? Where?!" Jane shoved her way through the party-goers and out the door.

Doctor Miller and Ada watched her go, then faced each other, both with the same confused expression. Ada shrugged, and felt the weight of Jane's purse on her arm.

"Lovely meeting you, have a good night!", she handed what was left of the cheese to Doctor Miller, who continued to look slightly shocked, and followed Jane's path through the crowd.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Ada stepped into the chilly October air from the stuffiness of the party, she saw Jane disappear around the corner of a neighboring building. "Jane! Your bag-", she called, jogging after her.

Jane made a winding path around the university buildings, bits of her phone conversation drifting back to Ada, who was having trouble following Jane's apparently random but determined trajectory. From what Ada could hear, most of the conversation was Jane excitedly (anxiously?) asking about Erik's certainty of some event and Erik apparently reassuring her and giving directions. She began to feel guilty about following her friend... whatever was happening, it seemed important, and she didn't want to invade Jane's privacy... or work... or whatever was going on.

A distant clap of thunder sounded, causing Ada to involuntarily look up. Clouds were scooting across the sky at great pace, despite the peaceful breeze on the ground. The moon and stars flashed through them, creating an unusual glow on the buildings and trees.

Again, thunder rumbled, closer this time. Ada broke from her thoughts to see the bottom of Jane's star-studded dress receding around yet another corner. She huffed and resolved to just call Jane in the morning. It was obviously going to rain, and Ada didn't want to be wandering around in a long woolen dress when it started. She hiked Jane's purse up on her arm beneath her cape and turned to go back to her flat.

Ada had barely taken two steps when it seemed the entire campus was bathed in light. She wheeled around to the source of the sudden illumination to see a particularly wide bolt of lightning pulsing down to earth, apparently striking the square on the other side of the building that Jane had just...

"JANE!", Ada screamed, as the lightning bolt evaporated and thunder roared overhead. She sprinted between the old stone buildings that blocked her view of the square to find smoke rising from within a grove of trees. There was no sign of Jane and no light was being cast by a fire, which slightly reassured her. _Why would Jane's mentor direct her into a park in the middle of the night, anyway?_ Ada laughed, quietly and nervously, at the absurd thought. She entered the small wood to find the source of the smoke... just in case.

Her eyes readjusting to the relative darkness after the blinding thunderbolt, Ada entered a small clearing to see two figures. She immediately recognized the glint of Jane's star boppers, and broke into a wide grin of relief. "God, Jane, you scared me to death!" she said, marching toward her friend. "I thought-"

It was then that Ada's eyes became accustomed to the dim light of the grove, and she got a better look at the second figure and nearly dropped her spinning needle. Tall and almost impossibly broad-shouldered, his red cape stirred in the gentle wind and the moonlight shone on his armor. He held his hammer limply at his side, gazing at Jane with equal parts adoration and sorrow. Jane met his eyes with similar emotion.

Ada was frozen in place, eyes and mouth wide open, unable to fully compute the reality of the situation, and unnoticed by either party. _OH MY GOD oh my god Ada don't wet yourself it's just a NORSE GOD AND SAVIOR OF EARTH in a forest oh my god I wonder what language he speaks WHAT IF IT'S PROTO-NORSE_

Ada's face contorted into wild expressions as her mind raced, not realizing Jane had begun to gingerly approach the god.

"Thor...?", Jane almost whispered, inching toward him. "I thought... after New York... you had forgotten..."

Thor dropped Mjolnir with a thud, and closed the gap between them with a single stride. He placed his large fingers under Jane's chin and tilted her face up to look him in the eye. "Never, Jane", he said with gravity. "I could never forget you. All the armies of the Nine Realms could not prevent me from keeping my promise."

"Although we did try", a third voice, eerily silky, chimed in.

Ada saw another figure materialize from the darkness behind the god of thunder. Every element of him seemed to contrast with the shining figure of Thor, from the dark green of his tunic and the dull black leather of his armor to his raven hair. Even without his horned bronze helmet, Ada recognized him as Loki, god of mischief, and leader of the attack on New York.

Afraid for the safety of her friend and unsure of Thor's awareness of the situation, Ada made a rash decision. Slipping Jane's purse off of her arm for better maneuverability, she lunged at Loki with her bejeweled spinning needle. In a move that seemed to surprise both he and Ada equally, she struck him directly under the ribs. Unfortunately, though, she had underestimated Loki's leather chestplate and overestimated her wooden needle; it simply snapped at the hilt, and Ada staggered back. Loki's expression quickly turned from surprise to aggravation, and he flicked his wrist in Ada's direction.

Ada felt the remains of the needle droop in her hand, and looked over to it, horrified. Where there was once a needle, there was now a small black snake beginning to curl around her hand. She screamed and shook it off.

"Oh, you Midgardians never learn, do you", Loki purred menacingly. He advanced on Ada, who stepped backward onto her cape and was forced to sit, hard, on the wet grass. He flicked his wrist again, a small dagger appearing in his hand, as he tucked his left arm behind him. "You must be taught to respect your superiors! I suppose I-"

Several things then happened then in quick succession. Thor snapped his fingers, Loki froze mid-threat, and Jane punched Loki square in the jaw. Shock and rage flashed in Loki's eyes, though he made no move to retaliate. In fact, he made no move at all. Jane shook her hand to ease the pain of the impact and peered at him curiously. He produced a low growl in response.

"A binding enchantment, entrusted to me by our father, Odin, King of Asgard", Thor explained, placing a hand on Jane's shoulder. "After my brother's previous… excursion to Midgard, our father deemed it necessary to put some security measures in place. I am thankful that he did, as it seems the _volur_ of Midgard still presume to meddle in our business." He removed his hand and pointed down at Ada, still sitting in a disheveled state on the ground.

"You! _Volva_! What reason have you for making an attempt on the life of a prince of Asgard?"

Ada looked up at Thor with eyes as big as saucepans. _I'm going to die here_, she thought. _My friend's boyfriend is a Norse god, possibly the best academic source in the history of the world, and he's going to kill me. Not the worst way to go I guess…_

Just as Ada was beginning to imagine what an interesting read her obituary would be, Jane grabbed Thor's arm. "Thor, it's just a costume! She isn't really a volva, she's my friend Ada! We were at a costume party, see?" She gestured to her bobbing stars and Ada uncertainly collected herself off the ground. "And I'm fairly certain anyone would react that way to seeing Loki…", she mumbled.

"Ah, I did wonder about the significance of your unique headdress", Thor said, gently poking one of the stars to see it bounce back. He grinned. "It is quite amusing!"

"Jane, can you please explain to me what the _actual fuck_ is going on here", Ada asked in a gravelly voice, placing her hand to her forehead. Encountering her antler headband, she pulled it off and removed her veil to reveal short red hair that was in quite a state from being unwillingly contained.

She could see Jane's cheeks flush even in the dimness of the forest. "Um, this… this is Thor!", Jane gestured to him and smiled awkwardly.

Thor's arm shot out to grasp Ada's, and she was sure she was going to be the recipient of a very strong and possibly painful handshake. Instead, he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it ever so softly. Ada found herself involuntarily blushing.

"My apologies for frightening you, Ada", he said, releasing her hand. "But I must request that you make no further attempts on my brother's life. Asgard sincerely asks your peoples' forgiveness for Loki's misdeeds while in your realm. As part of his punishment meted out by our father the King, he is to remain strictly monitored within the castle walls at all times. However, in planning my journey to fetch the lady Jane, I decided it would be more prudent for him to be under my direct supervision, rather than left to the devices of the palace guards, so…"

Thor's voice trailed off to Ada's ears, although his lips kept moving. She stared hard at the back of her hand where Thor had kissed it. This was all _way_ too much.

As she lost consciousness, she could've sworn she heard Loki emit what sounded like a choked giggle.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

Ada regained consciousness to find Jane crouching next to her and looking concerned. As she blinked and looked around, Jane's face softened to relief.

"Ugh, what…" Ada groaned, sitting up with her hand to her head. She looked at Jane questioningly. Jane simply nodded to her right. Ada looked in the direction of her nod to find Thor and Loki quietly speaking to each other, only yards away. Her eyes widened as she remembered her recent exploits and introductions.

"You did pretty well, overall", Jane grinned. "Honestly, knowing you, I'm surprised you didn't faint immediately after laying eyes on Thor!"

Upon hearing Jane's voice, Thor and Loki ended their conversation (which seemed to have been escalating into an argument, given Thor's furrowed brow and Loki's knowing smirk) and turned toward the girls. As Ada struggled to her feet, Thor stepped forward, causing her to warily take a step back. She was not afraid of the god, but was very concerned about what nonsense might come out of her mouth if she was caught off guard again. She had to make a better impression this time…

Thor stopped in his tracks and held up his hands in a non-threatening way. "I promise I mean you no harm!" He shot Jane a worried glance and then looked back to Ada. "It was not my intention to frighten you before. Jane tells me that you are a scholar of the languages of Midgard!" he said, obviously trying to make small talk due to feeling slightly guilty.

Ada nodded, determined to use this conversational redirection to her advantage. Perhaps she could get on good terms with him after all! "Yes, actually I'm particularly interested in Norse! That's why I was so, er, excited to meet you… much of my source material is actually stories of your adventures and heroic deeds!" Ada could see Thor's chest swell with pride in response to her strategic flattery. _Yes, this is going so much better…_

"Oh _do_ go easy on my dear brother's ego, I feel he may explode if it is inflated further", Loki sighed, inclining his head toward Ada slightly, having been freed of his magical binding while she was unconscious. "Unless that is your goal, then by all means, be my guest!" Gracefully positioning his hand, Loki gestured delicately to Thor. "Although, if your previous effort was anything to go by, I would not place great faith in your god-killing abilities…" He smiled deviously. Ada's expression immediately soured, reliving what was possibly the worst social misstep in human history.

"Loki…" Thor growled, turning to face his brother. He barked something to the mischievous god, which elicited a chuckle and an equally indecipherable response. Thor's eyes blazed at what was apparently an insult.

Ada felt her breath hitch in her throat. She tried to choke out a question, but nothing came.

"Ah, guys…" Jane interjected nervously, placing her hand gently on Thor's arm. "If it's not too much trouble, could we maybe move this conversation inside? I'm kind of freezing my bouncy stars off out here…"

"Of course, my dear Jane! I am sorry for not immediately noticing your discomfort!" Thor put his arm around her and wrapped her in his cape.

Jane was obviously very pleased at this turn of events. She slipped her arm around Thor's waist and began to lead him out of the trees. As Thor retrieved his hammer and glanced back to glare at Loki to ensure he was following, Ada found her words… loudly.

"WHAT?!" the exclamation was some sort of a cross between a gasp and a shout. She looked from Thor, to Loki, and back to Thor. The gods stared at her in confusion, and Jane glared daggers.

Ada coughed and waved her hands in front of her face. "Hang on… I just… what did you say to each other?" she asked almost frantically.

Thor frowned thoughtfully. "I simply told Loki to hold his tongue, lest I gag him and leave him to the dungeons again." Jane raised a suspicious eyebrow at this.

Loki (whose default expression seemed to be "mischievous smirk", Ada noted) continued, "And I asked Thor why, if he enjoyed demonstrating his power in such a way, he had not taken his Midgardian lover immediately after we arrived?"

Jane's face took on the hue of Thor's crimson cape, and she released a flustered squeak. Even Ada was temporarily brought out of her academic frenzy by the audacity of Loki's words, but was thrown right back into it when Thor shouted something else at Loki. Something that sounded familiar…

"You're… you're speaking Old Norse to each other!" Ada pointed from Thor to Loki as her face cracked into a wide smile. Her expression suddenly shifted to a frown, and she looked down to the ground, rubbing her chin with her hand. "No no no, that's not right, that form of "king" is too close to the original loan word… and the lack of the vowel [y] in the verb would indicate…" She began to pace back and forth, continuing her linguistic analysis.

Thor looked down to Jane, whose recovery from her embarrassment was hastened by her confusion at Ada's ramblings. She met his eyes and shrugged. Meanwhile, Loki regarded Ada's increasingly frenzied pacing with curiosity and slight amusement.

Ada halted suddenly and turned toward the gods and Jane, pointing again. She smiled triumphantly and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut short by a flash of lightning and nearly simultaneous rumble of thunder. She glanced up at the sky, then back to Thor, who was also looking to the sky.

"Is that you…?" Jane asked, following his gaze. Thor shook his head, beginning to frown. He, in turn, looked at Loki, who closed his eyes and shrugged in an exaggerated manner. However, Ada noticed that, for the first time since she attempted to stab him, Loki was not wearing his trademark smirk.

Suddenly, the sky above them began to shimmer in all the colors of the rainbow. Thor braced himself protectively in front of Jane as three figures phased into being in front of the group. As their forms ceased to flicker, Ada could see that all three were women, and she could tell that the central figure obviously outranked the other two by their body language. This was confirmed when the two flanking women, each clad in heavy golden armor in the style of Thor's, knelt as the third woman stepped forward. To Ada's surprise, as their knees met the ground, a pair of eagle-like wings extended from each of their backs.

The woman in the center was clothed in a flowing white robe and carried a spear and a gleaming silver shield. Her dark chestnut hair was pulled back severely into a bun, giving her a fierce look, despite her elegant dress. Her golden eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

Thor relaxed as she walked toward him. He separated from Jane and met the woman half way, bowing slightly but reverently. "My lady Skuld", he said, straightening. "To what do we owe the honor of receiving a Norn on Midgard?"

Ada clasped her hands together tightly. _This night just couldn't get any better…_ she thought, almost at the verge of tears.

"Thor, Prince of Asgard!" Skuld said, raising her spear in greeting. Her voice was smooth and deep, and she spoke with authority. "And Loki of Asgard!" She turned to face him, spear still aloft. She placed its hilt back on the ground and again directed her attention to Thor.

"Hm, lost my title have I?" Loki muttered, crossing his arms.

Ignoring Loki, Skuld continued. "Unfortunately, I come urgently bearing distressing tidings. Dark times will very soon befall the Nine Realms, and I have foreseen that you will be at the center of them, Thor. You have acquired a weakness by giving your heart to a fragile Midgardian, and enemies of Asgard will seek to exploit it. They will use you to bring about…" Skuld's eyes fluttered closed, and she whispered, "… Ragnarok."

Thor and Ada were visibly taken aback by this declaration, while Loki remained deadpan. Jane could obviously see that the statement was something important and, failing at subtly obtaining Thor's attention, caught Ada's eye. Ada stealthily sidled up next to Jane and whispered, "The end of the world!" Jane's expression fell, and she stared hard into the back of Thor's head.

Thor, coming out of his shocked stupor, finally turned to look at Jane, and was met with her intense gaze. He slightly extended one arm to her, and she came to his side. His composure somewhat restored, he returned his attention to Skuld. "How?!", he demanded. "How is that possible? Nowhere in the All-Father's prophecy of the coming of the end times am I or my... _heart_ mentioned. Tell me what you have seen, Lady Skuld!"

Skuld's eyes snapped back open, and their golden glow seemed to flash red for a moment. "You should know your station, Asgardian!", she said sharply. Thor cast his eyes to the ground, ashamed of his outburst. "I am here only to furnish you with a warning!" Her face softened slightly. "However, my sisters and I have also deemed it acceptable to offer Asgard a bit of a… temporary protection service, if you will. We shall take your Midgardian into our custody until such a time that your emotional connection to her cannot be used against you. We will hide her within the protective boundaries of Yggdrasil, and she will be unreachable by your enemies. This will give you and your armies ample time to find and subdue those who would seek to bring Ragnarok."

Thor's expression was unreadable to Ada. There was intense sadness, but also resignation and anger. She supposed she would liken it to that of a cornered lion.

Jane, however, made her feelings known. "What do you _mean_, you'll take me into your custody? Where is "ig-dray-zil", anyway? Do I have ANY say in this?" She glared at Skuld.

Skuld took a step towards Jane and, whether by natural height or by illusion, seemed to tower over her. Jane shrunk back into Thor's cape. "You have no idea of the powers at work here, _mortal_", Skuld said, spitting out the last word. "Do not make me rescind our offer."

Ada watched the exchange with trepidation. She didn't want to throw herself into god business again, but she could see that her friend would most certainly be removed from earth against her will. She watched Jane and Thor look at each other lovingly but with fear in their eyes, and resolved that she had to do something… until she caught a glimpse of Loki behind the couple. His eyes were somewhat narrowed as he stared at Skuld, who took no notice of him. His lips were moving ever so slightly. Ada cocked her head in curiosity.

"Jane…" Thor said gruffly as he pulled her around to his front. He wrapped her in an embrace before grasping her shoulders gently and pushing her away softly. Jane had tears in her eyes. "I am sorry, but we must do as she says. She is Skuld, the Norn who sees the paths that the future will lead us down, and her words carry great weight. Your confinement will only be temporary... beneath the branches of Yggdrasil is the safest place in the Nine Realms. I swear to you, I will find and destroy those who would even imagine laying a finger on you, and return to you once more."

"That will not be necessary, I think", Loki said, taking a small step forward. "I believe they have already been found."

Loki flicked his hand, palm out, at a surprised Skuld. It glowed green for a moment, and the air around Skuld began to crackle with red electricity. She emitted a dreadful hiss, eyes shining red, as she aimed her spear at Loki and threw it. The spear shimmered right through Loki's smug grin, as his double faded and the real god appeared only feet away. He squeezed his hand shut, and, as he did, Skuld burst into flames.

Ada stumbled back and put her hand over her eyes to protect them from the sudden rush of heat. Thor quickly shielded Jane with his cape, and, face distorted with rage roared, "LOKI! What have you done?!"

Loki giggled mischievously. "Oh Thor, you overestimate my desire to subvert authority! Do you think I would do such a thing to one of the true Norns, those that see more than Heimdall and are more well-versed in magic than the All-Father? Do you think I would even be able to? See for yourself the face of one who desires Ragnarok!"

The flames engulfing Skuld subsided, but not completely. Small flames flickered at her shoulders and in her hair. Her flesh, now the color of still-burning embers, emitted such heat that Ada could see the air become distorted around her. Her eyes continued to glow golden-red, though her tightly bound hair had grown disheveled and black as night. Her once white gown clung to her now taller frame as burnt rags.

"Fire jotun…" Thor breathed as Mjolnir whizzed to his hand. He again took a protective stance in front of Jane. "Jane, take your friend and get out of here, I think things are about to get dangerous."

Almost on cue, not-Skuld's winged companions stood and drew their swords. Jane backed towards Ada, who was equally as fascinated as she was terrified. The fire jotun watched the girls' horror with glee, smiling to reveal a mouthful of jagged teeth.

"This does not have to end in a fight, creature", Thor said loudly, drawing the woman's attention back to him. "You have my word that I will not hurt you or your Valkyrie companions if you leave Midgard now."

The jotun's laugh sounded more like a staccato growl. "You call me "creature", boy…" she said, her deep voice now rough and harsh. "When your own brother is a…"

"I don't think what I am should be your concern at the moment", Loki interrupted as he leisurely walked to Thor's side. He fixed her with an icy stare, analyzing her. "A fire jotun impersonating a Norn, complete with a Valkyrie escort? Since when can your kind even perform such complex illusions? I must say, I _am_ impressed."

The woman's toothy grin widened. "You accuse me of impersonation? You wound me!" She feigned shock. "I am indeed a norn, just not the one you took me for! My sisters and I _are_ norns of our realm. I am Gerðr of Muspelheim, and with my sisters Greip and Gjalp I will clear a path to Asgard for our lord Surt to burn it to the ground!"

Loki turned to Thor and smirked. "Well, that's helpful information isn't it? I do love when our enemies reveal their plans unprovoked."

Thor's face visibly brightened when Loki said the word "our", but it regained its serious air almost immediately. He also turned to face Loki and began to speak to him in Ada's mystery language.

Ada, who had been backing away from the scene with Jane extremely slowly so as not to draw attention to herself or her friend, stopped when she heard Thor's words. She gently beckoned for Jane to keep going, while she took a step forward to listen more carefully. Unfortunately, this step was directly onto the remains of her spinning needle wand, which cracked and crunched under her foot. Ada froze, and was suddenly an object of great interest to a lot of mythological figures.

Gerðr caught sight of Jane behind Ada and pointed to her. One of the Valkyries swiftly took to the sky and landed on the other side of Jane, who had just turned to run.

Thor, seeing this change in positions, again addressed Gerðr. "I do not particularly want to hurt you, but you are making it very hard to resist." He raised Mjolnir slightly.

"I'm glad to hear you say so, because I don't want to have to hurt _you_", Gerðr said, absently picking at the burnt remains of one of her sleeves. She looked up briefly then turned toward her remaining Valkyrie guard. She looked over her shoulder at Thor. "As I said before, you and your Midgardian will be playing a large part in our plans! But, alas, for now, I have places to be and World Trees to… well, you'll see!" She smiled evilly and faced the Valkyrie. "Bring me the Midgardian!" she commanded, "And do not kill Thor! You may, however, dispose of Loki and the Asgardian maid as you wish!"

The Valkyrie nodded, and its blank eyes turned to Loki and then Ada. _Wait, what Asgardian maid?_ Ada thought. Suddenly, it clicked, and she looked down to her costume in horror. Ada raised her eyes slowly as the Valkyrie released a terrifying shriek.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note**: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

Gerðr enthusiastically spun to face Thor as the second Valkyrie took to the sky. She bared her fangs in a wide smile and sang, "See you in Asgard!"

Thor swung his hammer at Gerðr's head, but it simply passed through. Her form shimmered brightly and seemed to blow away in the breeze. Thor roared in rage, but his attention was immediately redirected to Jane's screams.

He whirled around and sent his hammer flying right past Ada's nose and into the face of the Valkyrie that had grabbed Jane by the arm. The Valkyrie went sailing back into the trees, leaving bright red marks where it had held Jane roughly. Jane ran into Thor's embrace, her star headband falling off in the process, and Thor wrapped a protective arm around her. He shouted something to Loki, who nodded and materialized a dagger into each hand, as Mjolnir whizzed out of the forest and back to Thor's grasp.

Ada, wary of the second Valkyrie that had disappeared into the dark autumn sky, cautiously made her way to the group as well, keeping her eyes cast upward as she went. She placed her back almost directly against Thor, with Loki to her right. Loki said something quietly to Thor and smirked, and Thor replied, but Ada was too frightened to even _think_ about the Proto-Norse they were speaking…

_Ah-ha! That's it, that's why I can't really understand them…_ Ada grinned, distracting herself. _My god, if I could get a recording of them, I could die happy..._

Suddenly, a Valkyrie cry sounded from above. Loki's eyes shot skyward, and he deftly threw his daggers into the diving Valkyrie's neck and shoulder. Those were apparently weak spots in the Valkyrie's golden armor, as it cried out and crashed to the ground in a heap. However, it was soon on its feet again, and, hissing, lunged for Loki with its sword. Loki quickly conjured a long knife and deflected the blow, but was apparently at a disadvantage as the Valkyrie had more range with its weapon.

Dodging another strike, Loki called, "Would you mind lifting my magic limitations, Thor? There is only so much I can do with a knife!"

At the same time, the Valkyrie who had previously gone for Jane burst out of the woods, on a path for Thor. Thor chuckled in spite of himself, energized by the fight, and called back, "I think that would be unfair to the Valkyries, don't you? I _know_ how much you can do with a knife!" In a smooth motion, Thor detached himself from Jane and hit his Valkyrie with a Mjolnir uppercut, causing it to drop its sword and fly back into the trees.

Loki rolled his eyes and smirked. "I suppose you're right…", he sighed as his Valkyrie placed a well-aimed strike through his chest. Using the same ruse as before, his double faded around the Valkyrie's sword, and the Valkyrie squawked in confusion. The real Loki materialized behind it, and struck a blow into the back of its neck, sending it tumbling toward Ada and Jane, who both quickly reversed.

Loki walked over to the dazed Valkyrie and kicked it in the ribs before placing his foot on its chest. He bent down and placed his knife to its throat, tensing his muscles to make a fatal wound, when Thor snapped his fingers, freezing him in place.

Thor turned to fully face his brother, who let out a very exasperated moan. "Loki! Can you not see that these Valkyries are under some sort of enchantment? We mustn't kill them!"

Just then, the first Valkyrie leapt onto Thor's back, catching him off guard. He flailed and blindly swung Mjolnir at it, but was unable to accurately find its position. It clawed at his eyes and he shouted, dropping his hammer and trying to pull its hands away.

Meanwhile, Loki's Valkyrie had managed to wriggle free, and Loki, now off balance, fell to his side. Still frozen, he could do nothing as the Valkyrie returned his kick in the ribs in kind, and turned to menace the girls.

Ada and Jane huddled close together in terror. "It just wants me!" Jane said shakily. "If I go with it, then you guys will be ok!" She took a ginger step forward and Ada caught her by her uninjured arm.

"No, that is the _worst_ idea. We wouldn't be ok, because they're going to use you somehow to _end the world_", Ada said with a tremor in her voice. "Look, I took karate in middle school. I'll distract the thing and you run. Hopefully by then Thor will have sorted himself out, and we'll come find you."

Thor let out another howl of rage and stumbled behind the girls as the Valkyrie bit him in the neck.

"Get going!" Ada said and went for the dropped Valkyrie sword. Jane nodded and ran for the tree line.

_OH MY GOD I NEVER LEARNED TO USE A SWORD_, Ada screamed internally.

The Valkyrie, seeing that Ada was now armed, decided not to waste any more time being intimidating and took off at her.

Ada held the sword straight out in front of her and steeled herself as the Valkyrie flapped closer, letting loose a victory shriek. She closed her eyes and swung the sword as she would a baseball bat, lurching sideways due to the sword's unfamiliar weight. The Valkyrie launched right through where she had just been standing and into the other Valkyrie clinging to Thor, stabbing it right between the wings. It screamed and released Thor, falling onto its attacker.

Thor recovered quickly and retrieved Mjolnir, twirling it around in his hand until it became blurry. He then sent it flying into the second Valkyrie's face, who was thrown backwards. Thor then called the hammer back in his direction, altering its path so it would impact the Valkyrie's back. The Valkyrie was sent hurtling back towards Ada and Thor, landing face first at Thor's feet, apparently knocked out.

"JANE!" Thor called as Ada sat down in relief, dropping her sword. Thor looked around frantically.

"I told her to run away, but she can't have got far", Ada said weakly, and gestured to the trees. "She went that way."

Thor took off without a second thought, leaving Ada in silence. She reveled in the calm after the night's events, until she heard a muffled groan to her left. She slowly hefted herself up and walked over to Loki, who was still frozen in an incredibly awkward position. His face was half buried in the grass, and he was stuck supporting his weight on his hand that held the knife.

Ada paused for a second at his side, trying to decide what to do. She crouched down and turned her head sideways to inspect his situation, and was immediately caught with a death glare from the one eye of Loki's that was visible. He made a guttural sound of displeasure.

"Yeesh, hang on a second…" Ada placed one hand on Loki's shoulder and one on his hip and gave him a push. When his body didn't move, Ada braced herself against the ground for a second try. "You're heavier than you look!" She chuckled, grasping his leather shoulder pad tightly. He made a sound that Ada could only imagine would have accompanied a sarcastic comment.

Ada gave him a hard shove, and Loki rolled onto his back, not unlike a turtle. Ada giggled, and then descended into full blown laughter, all the adrenaline from the fight suddenly leaving her muscles. Loki glared at her as best he could from his position; if looks could kill, Ada would've been hung, drawn, and quartered.

Ada wiped a tear from her eye and, still snickering, stood up to find Thor reemerging from the forest with Jane in tow. He walked toward Ada and Loki with purpose, almost dragging Jane along. He stopped abruptly in front of them and snapped his fingers.

Loki's body melted into a relaxed position, and he sighed in relief. He opened his hand, which caused the knife to disappear, and sat up into a cross legged position. "Next time you visit Midgard, could you just leave me in the palace? I much prefer being confined to my chambers to becoming a living statue on your whim." He stood, dusting the grass from his long leather coat.

"Loki, there is no time for petty banter. We must immediately return to Asgard to warn father of this threat", Thor said, releasing Jane next to Ada. He turned and walked to the Valkyries, hefting them over his shoulders. Their wings fell awkwardly in front of him, and he blew some stray feathers out of his face. "We must bring these back to Asgard as well." He dropped them not very gently in front of Loki, who looked unimpressed.

"And what of your Midgardian, then?" Loki nodded to Jane. "The fire jotun was kind enough to reveal that they would use her to get to you, so I don't think you can just abandon her again." He smirked.

Thor fumed momentarily, but composed himself. "I never _abandoned_ Jane", he said softly. Loki shrugged. "But you are right; she cannot be left defenseless on Midgard. She will be returning to Asgard with us."

Ada's eyebrows shot up with such vigor that they risked detaching themselves from her face. She turned to Jane, eyes sparkling, but Jane's expression immediately dampened her spirits.

"I don't…" Jane sighed, turning away. "Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to travel to an alien planet via a wormhole, but these are less than ideal circumstances." She looked back to Ada and grumbled, "Thor won't even let me run to my flat to grab my camera or any instruments…"

"Oh!" Ada exclaimed and ran back to the tree line, to where she first saw Jane and the Norse gods. She retrieved Jane's purse and her discarded cell phone and carried them back. "I don't know if there's anything useful in here, but at least you can use your phone to take some pictures! Before it dies, that is…" Ada smiled ruefully. Jane returned the smile with sadness in her eyes.

"Jane, we must go. Say your farewells", Thor said gently. He nodded his own goodbye to Ada.

Jane threw her arms around Ada, and Ada's lip began to quiver. "Could you tell Doctor Miller that I had to go back to America or something?" Jane said, pulling away. "Ooo, tell him I went back to America and that I'm in a coma! Then he won't wonder why I haven't contacted him…"

Jane giggled and nodded, sniffling a little. "Bring me LOTS of stories! God, what I would give to come with you…"

"Ha! They'd kick you out!" Jane laughed. She was beginning to well up too.

"Jane…" Thor held out his arm expectantly, Loki at his other side.

Jane smiled at Ada one last time and walked over to Thor, weaving her way around the Valkyries. He placed his arm around her and raised his hammer. "HEIMDALL!" he called, and Ada could feel his voice reverberate around the forest.

Tears ran down Ada's cheeks, and she felt a bit guilty that they were not just caused by sadness, but jealousy as well. At first she thought the odd feeling in her stomach came as a result of that guilt, but as the feeling spread throughout her body, she became unsure. She could almost hear the air begin to crackle around her, and her hair stood on end. Suddenly, she felt a great tug from behind her belly button, and she found herself being pulled at great speed towards Jane and the gods, right into… Loki. Right into Loki's arms, to be precise. Before she even had a chance to be shocked at the development, the Bifrost descended onto the group with a mighty crash, and Ada found herself on a technicolor journey through space in the embrace of a god.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note**: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

**Author's note II: **this is a long one! Enjoy !

It took Ada a moment to realize she was no longer being hurled through space and was instead standing on solid ground. She cracked one eyelid and was met with the warm, shining golden walls of the observatory at the end of the Bifrost. She opened her eyes fully and looked around in awe, mouth hanging open. As her gaze faced front again, she was met with Loki's piercing green-blue eyes. Ada suddenly became aware of her arms, which were wrapped around his surprisingly slim waist. She immediately flung her arms straight out and away from him, causing his leather coat to flap at his sides. Loki gave Ada a smirk, almost too brief to catch, as he smoothed out his coat once more.

Thor looked at Ada angrily and opened his mouth to chastise her for apparently stowing away, but she threw up her hands and shook her head in innocence, still too much in shock to say anything. "I should've known better…" He sighed and turned to Loki, giving him a few choice words in Proto-Norse.

Ada caught Jane's eye, and they both grinned like lunatics. Jane detached herself from Thor's side and tiptoed to her friend. "_I cannot believe that just happened!_" she squealed, clutching Ada's hand. "How long do you think we were in transit? My estimate is about 45 seconds, give or take. If I knew our speed, I could calculate the relative length of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, and that would give us a rough idea of-"

"My Lord!" A powerful voice boomed behind them. The girls both spun to see the imposing figure of Heimdall standing on his observation platform, sword in hand, golden armor brilliant in the Asgardian sunlight. Ada nearly started hyperventilating. "What is the meaning of all these… visitors?"

"Heimdall! I apologize old friend, but I have no time to explain!" Thor said, already halfway out the door with Loki in tow. "As I know you saw, a fire jotun threatened us on earth. I believe she means to try to destroy Yggdrasil. I will go to the All-Father's side, and we will assess the situation." He made eye contact briefly with Jane. "I shall send a ship to bring you to the palace. It is the safest place in Asgard."

Thor began to spin Mjolnir in his hand but had a second thought and again turned to Heimdall. "Oh, and make sure the Valkyries don't cause any trouble!" With that, Thor grabbed a very unwilling-looking Loki, hurled his hammer, and took off in the direction of the palace. Their shape quickly faded into the distance.

Heimdall eyed the Valkyries, who were in a heap on the floor. They were both stirring and moaning, but didn't seem to be in any mood for a fight. He stepped down off of his platform, his sword arm relaxed but ready, in case he needed to discourage any aggression.

Ada approached him tentatively, hands clasped in front of her, eyes shining. "You're… you're my _favorite_", she said, barely audible.

Heimdall looked at her strangely and Jane rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe I'm actually meeting you!" Ada inched closer as Heimdall observed her somewhat suspiciously. "You've always been my favorite god since I was little! Mostly, I think, because you had gold teeth. Do you really have gold teeth?" As she peered into Heimdall's confused face, she realized she might be acting slightly creepy. She took a step back. "Ah, haha, sorry, that's kind of personal I guess!" Ada laughed nervously. "I mean, I like you for more than your teeth! Not that your teeth aren't cool, even if they aren't gold…"

Ada was rescued from her floundering and one-sided conversation by Jane tugging her away. "Ada, don't freak out the huge alien… god… guy with the sword!" She hissed.

Ada gave Heimdall one last furtive glance over Jane's shoulder, then cast her eyes down and sighed in defeat.

Smiling, Jane shook her head in a knowing way. She quickly became more serious and asked, "What the hell happened back there, anyway? One second Thor was saying what I assume was the Asgardian version of "Beam me up, Scotty", and the next second you're stuck to Loki like he's some sort of electromagnet! I didn't even see you run over!"

Ada furrowed her brow, remembering the strange incident. "Well, "run" isn't the verb I would use… it was more of a pull, and I'm not sure-"

"Ladies", Heimdall rumbled. He nodded to the door. "I believe your transportation has arrived."

What resembled a Viking longboat with wings zoomed into view at the entrance of Heimdall's observatory, coming to rest gracefully on the Bifrost. Two einherjar disembarked from the ship and entered the observatory. When they saw Heimdall, they came to attention and tapped the bases of their spears on the floor in greeting.

"Heimdall, Guardian of the Bifrost!" One einherjar stepped forward slightly. "We have come on orders from Prince Thor to collect two Midgardians and take them to the palace."

Now it was Jane's turn to be overly enthusiastic. She rushed past the surprised einherjar and began to examine the ship's two engines, located on the bases of its "wings". She grinned and beckoned manically to Ada.

Ada followed Jane's path, but stopped momentarily to smile at the einherjar. They looked down their noses at her in thinly veiled disgust. The smile melted off her face, and she hurried to Jane's side.

Jane immediately began to babble about "advanced propulsion technology" and "silent pulse detonation engines", but the attitude of the einherjar had slightly put Ada off her initial enthusiasm about the ship. She mentally stuck her tongue out at them and forced herself to stop thinking about how cool their armor was. One thing in particular bothered her, though… why didn't they speak Proto-Norse to Heimdall? What was the trigger that caused them, and Thor and Loki and the jotun for that matter, to switch to English? _Why were they speaking English in the first place?_

When Jane stopped for breath after a particularly long run-on sentence about the theoretical effects of mechanical fatigue on repeated detonations, Ada took advantage of the break in the waterfall of science jargon. "Were you able to understand Thor, when you met him the first time?" she asked, squinting in concentration.

Jane emerged from her science haze long enough to answer, somewhat incredulously, "Yeah, of course!" She promptly returned to verbally dissecting what made the flying ships fly.

Ada looked back at the doorway of the observatory to see the two einherjar approaching the ship, looking quite displeased. As the einherjar who had spoken to Heimdall boarded the ship, the other motioned to the ship's short ladder with his spear and avoided looking at the girls directly. Jane was far too excited about everything to notice, but Ada frowned.

The second einherjar boarded behind the girls, and the ship's engines whizzed to life. They made a pleasant, rhythmic sound, much softer than that of a jet engine. Jane listened to them thoughtfully and smiled. She was obviously getting more out of this than Ada, who thought they sounded rather like malfunctioning hair dryers.

As the ship lifted off, Ada threw one more glance in the direction of Heimdall, who had returned to his observation platform to watch their departure. She smiled at him ruefully, and to her great surprise, his expression changed ever so slightly in response. While his golden eyes remained intense and his brow furrowed, the corners of his lips had been drawn upwards in a subtle smile. Ada grinned more confidently in return, and turned to face forward, the glittering palace of Asgard large on the horizon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jane nearly danced into the halls of the palace, while Ada moved at a slow but determined pace, keeping her eye out for inscriptions on the walls. When they and the einherjar had walked through the main palace gates, Ada had noticed some lettering, but she was rushed past it by the guards before she could read it. She did gather, however, that the caption was written in was runic, though she was unsure which runic alphabet it was.*

The heavy steps of the einherjars' boots echoed in the surprisingly empty halls. One einherjar walked ahead of the girls and one behind, leading them on a winding path through the palace, up grand staircases and through less elegant corridors, everything illuminated splendidly by the light streaming in through tall windows. Even those remaining star stickers on Jane's dress seemed to shine proudly in such light. They caught Ada's eye as Jane practically floated back toward her.

"Can you _believe_ this?" Jane exclaimed. "Not only are we probably the first humans _ever_ to visit an alien planet, but we're walking around their capitol! I can't believe you're not grilling the guards to death about words or something!"

The lead einherjar looked back with a start at the phrase "grilling the guards to death", but quickly faced front again.

Ada made a face at the einherjar's reaction, but smiled at Jane. "I dunno, they don't seem like the… _friendliest_ guys…"

Jane nodded in agreement. "Yeah, they completely ignored my questions the whole way here! Maybe Asgardian propulsion systems are a state secret or something. I'll ask Thor about it later."

The group ascended yet another staircase, this one more broad and splendid than any of the others before it. At the top, Ada looked out one of the windows and gasped, "Jane! Look how high we are!"

The girls moved closer to the window, from which they could see the city stretching out before them. It shone silver and gold in the now-setting sun, like no city on earth could. The buildings were of all shapes and sizes, some unimaginably slender and graceful, reaching toward the darkening sky, and others squat, but somehow still giving off an aura of grandeur. Some buildings even appeared to have floating architectural elements! Sprinkled throughout them were patches and avenues of green, apparently park areas, which, instead of interrupting the flow of the city, seemed to compliment it and give it a feeling of organic splendor. Two moons, or planets, Ada wasn't sure, were beginning to appear over the scene, solidifying its otherworldly beauty.

Jane pulled out her cellphone and snapped a picture. She slowly turned to Ada, childlike wonder radiating from her face. "There are planets on the horizon", she said aloud, apparently trying to reassure herself that her eyes weren't deceiving her. Ada nodded in confirmation, still taking in the view.

The einherjar behind them struck his staff on the marble floor, making the girls jump. "Keep moving, mortals", he grumbled.

Ada nodded walked quickly after the lead einherjar, Jane following closely. They were now in a huge chamber and surrounded by outrageously tall columns, and Ada suddenly felt very small and frightened, her heart still pounding from the einherjar's outburst. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, and tried to ignore how overwhelmed she was suddenly feeling at her situation.

Suddenly a huge explosion sounded to their right, so powerful it shook the floor under their feet. It was quickly followed by a blast of hot air, and the shout of a male voice.

"Thor…" Jane whispered, then shouted, "THOR!" and ran in the direction of the commotion.

The einherjar were unprepared for this development. One shouted something to the other in Proto-Norse, and they ran after her, their capes flapping behind them.

Ada was hot on their heels. As she followed them around a column, a tall doorway came into view, bordered with intricate golden swirls. The huge wooden doors, themselves embellished in gold, were thrown wide open, and the sounds of battle poured out of them.

As Ada passed through the doors, she found herself in another, smaller pillared space. The tall windows of this room had been shattered, and squads of einherjar poured in from a side entrance. They were all running toward the source of the disturbance, which was a large hole in the wall at the end of the room. The dust was still settling from the explosion that had apparently caused it. A bottleneck seemed to have occurred there, and groups of einherjar pushed and shoved to try and get through, some stumbling over the rubble. Jane stood to the side of the hole, standing on her tiptoes and frantically trying to see over the shoulders of the jostling soldiers.

A second blast went off, blowing the legions of einherjar backwards, followed by another rush of intensely hot air. Ada watched as Jane, who was shielded from the blast from the remains of the wall, darted through the hole and disappeared inside. Ada was far enough away from the explosion that she only had to shield her face from the hot air, and dashed after Jane, jumping over the fallen einherjar, who were having a difficult time getting up due to their unwieldy dress armor.

The room on the other side of the hole lacked the large windows present everywhere else in the palace, and had relatively little ambient light, save for a few torches. The real light source was a gigantic tree, stretching up to an invisible ceiling. It gave off a peaceful blue and white glow that sharply contrasted with the chaos going on at its roots. Ada, awestruck, followed the tree with her eyes from its trunk to its branches where, in addition to leaves, it also seemed to be bearing large fruit in the form of eight galaxies. "Yggdrasil…" Ada whispered.

Now that she fully understood her surroundings, Ada took in the battle raging below the world tree. Three fire jotuns, one of which Ada recognized as Gerðr, stood with their backs to the tree, while hoards of Valkyrie viciously attacked the einherjar trying to reach them. Every once in a while a fire jotun would lob a flaming orb into a group of particularly tenacious einherjar, which would explode and take the whole lot out of commission.

Ada flattened herself against the back wall of the room, not wanting to be noticed or become involved in any way. She looked around anxiously for Jane, Thor, or even Loki. However, while their familiar faces were nowhere to be seen, she did pick out a figure she thought she recognized from mythology: his face was wrinkled but sharp, with a bushy white beard and only one eye.

Odin hoisted his staff, Gungir, which began to glow with an almost painfully bright light. He then pointed it in front of him, and with a sweeping motion, brought down at least a dozen Valkyries with the beam of energy it produced.

This caught Gerðr's attention, and she held a hand up for the Valkyries to stop fighting. The remaining Valkyries backed towards Yggdrasil, effectively surrounding it.

The ranks of einherjar parted to allow Odin to pass through, Thor appearing at his side from out of the crowd. Behind them, Ada caught sight of Jane, pressed to the wall in a similar fashion to herself.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Odin shouted as he came to the wall of Valkyries. One squawked at him and he glared at it so hard with his one eye that it shrunk back. "Asgard has no quarrel with Muspelheim, although your actions may cause one! Release the Valkyries from your spell and return the Norns of Yggdrasil immediately, and the lives of you and your people may yet be spared! However, your status as norns will be revoked immediately and you will spend eternity in our dungeons!"

Gerðr and her sisters laughed sincerely at Odin's demands. Through her laughter, Gerðr choked out, "Although your offer is ever so tempting, I think we'll have to turn you down old man!"

Odin fumed and Thor stepped forward. "Hold your tongue you vile creature! You will show the Allfather the respect he deserves!"

"Oh dear, where are my manners?" Gerðr said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "We haven't even introduced ourselves! I am Gerðr, these are my sisters Greip", she nodded to the tallest jotun, "and Gjalp", she nodded to the other jotun, who was slightly shorter. "We're here to take Yggdrasil off your hands! We'll also be taking that mortal over there." She looked at Jane, who flinched under her gaze.

A Valkyrie took to the sky in response to Gerðr's indirect command, but was immediately grounded by a well-placed toss of Mjolnir. "Not while I still draw breath", Thor growled as his hammer returned to his hand. He began to spin it to hurl at Gerðr, but stopped when Odin thrust Gungir in front of him.

"Yggdrasil will not suffer weapons to pass beneath its branches", Odin explained. "The fire jotuns have chosen their position based on this fact."

"Very observant, old man! I should give you more credit", Gerðr grinned toothily. She narrowed her eyes at Jane. "Perhaps I shall let you keep your pet a little longer."

"Will they _ever_ shut up, this is terribly dull", a mellifluous voice purred next to Ada. She whirled to the source of the comment in surprise, finding Loki leaning casually against the wall next to her. He wore a disinterested expression, but his green eyes were sparkling as he regarded her.

"_Why the fuck did you bring me here?!_" Ada hissed at him, placing her back to the wall again. She watched as Thor took another step forward, brandishing Mjolnir and shouting. She didn't absorb anything he said; she was far too concerned about the presence of the god of mischief lounging to her left.

"Why?" Loki appeared to become lost in thought. He then smirked and refocused his gaze on Ada. "Why not? Things can get a bit boring around the palace. Also, I admire your taste in headgear." He produced Ada's long forgotten horned headband, seemingly out of thin air.

Ada looked from the headband in Loki's hand to his face in disbelief. She frowned and tentatively took it from him, half expecting him to withdraw his hand. The clang of sword on armor brought her back to reality, and she turned so see Thor holding a Valkyrie by the neck. Its feet dangled helplessly above the ground.

"Ooo, this may get more interesting after all!" Loki settled back, still grinning.

"Enough of this posturing!" Gerðr's voice boomed, echoing across the room.

The einherjar shifted uncomfortably, their armor clinking in the silence that followed the announcement.

Gerðr joined hands with her sisters, and they backed even closer to Yggdrasil. As the flames given off by the fire jotuns' bodies licked the trunk of the tree, its light flickered almost imperceptibly. Ada got the strange feeling that it was almost as nervous as the einherjar.

"Prepare for your end, Asgardians", Gerðr said, voice hardly rising above a growl. "Yggdrasil and its Norns are now the property of Muspelheim. You can look forward to Ragnarok being brought upon you by one of your own!"

The Valkyrie army began to shimmer and disappear, beginning with those Valkyries closest to Odin and Thor. The speed of the disappearances picked up as it continued, and finally the fire jotuns and even Yggdrasil began to sparkle unnaturally. Ignoring his father's words, Thor roared and hurled his hammer at the forms of the jotuns, but by the time it reached its target, there was nothing left to impact.

Yggdrasil was gone; in its place was a gaping hole in the floor, into which vestiges of soil crumbled. Odin's sigh was audible in the strained silence.

*There are three! In order of age: the Elder Futhark, the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, and the Younger Futhark


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note**: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

Odin quickly recovered his wits after the disappearance of Yggdrasil, and began barking orders to groups of einherjar. They scattered in all directions, going about their business like ants. As the room became less crowded, Odin set his sights on Jane, who was still glued to the wall of the room in fear. He pointed to her, and then made the apparently universal "come here" motion with his finger. Jane responded by taking a few tentative steps toward the Allfather.

Thor left his father's side to join Jane and to offer her encouragement. Together, they walked the rest of the way to an incensed Odin.

"Father…" Thor said, speaking in a meek voice that Ada didn't think could come from such a large and powerful individual. "This is…"

"… A threat to the security of our kingdom, and all the Nine Realms!" Odin cut him off, his cheeks flushing with rage as he spoke. "When I allowed you to visit Midgard as a reward for quelling the turmoil that erupted after the destruction of the Bifrost, I gave you ORDERS to LEAVE YOUR MORTAL LOVER THERE! Do you think of yourself so highly that you are above the command of your king?! And now she is somehow involved with the plans of the fire jotuns! I fail to see how the situation you have put us in could be any worse!"

Thor looked like a kicked puppy. Next to Ada, Loki's broad smile gave way to a quiet giggle. She glared at him. Catching sight of her expression, Loki whispered, "What? I find joy in the little things."

"Father, I…" Thor began again, only to be silenced by Odin holding up his hand.

"Okay, I know making first impressions with your boyfriend's dad is important", Jane said, anger growing in her voice. "But you don't even know the full story! Sir." She looked down at her feet, trying to appear somewhat respectful.

"No, indeed you do not." Loki's silky voice suddenly joined in the conversation. Shocked, Ada glanced to where he was just leaning against the wall next to her, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead, he was walking up to Odin from behind Thor. Jane turned to scowl at him. "Because, you see, there is a second mortal in our midst…" He gestured gracefully to Ada, and Odin's eye followed. She suddenly felt very vulnerable, and somewhat betrayed by Loki. But mostly vulnerable.

"You! Volva! Come here this instant!" Odin ordered.

"No no! Not a volva! Just a linguist!"Ada said nervously, wondering if that explanation made things better or worse. She walked quickly in his direction, desperate to clarify herself fully. She stopped a few yards from Odin, frightened of how he might react to her presence. "It's just a costume!" She said quietly, nervously tugging on her cape.

Odin regarded her coldly with his one eye, then turned back to Thor. "I can understand the presence of your mortal lover, but what is the purpose of this second Midgardian?"

"_I have a name_…" Ada heard Jane grumble under her breath.

"To be honest, father, I have no idea" Thor said, looking at Loki as a way of responding to the Odin's question.

"Why do you look to me, _brother_?" Loki said with exaggerated innocence. "I was simply waiting by your side to ascend the Bifrost, when suddenly she was _clinging_ to me-"

"Apologies, _brother_, but I am more inclined to believe the mortal's account of events, although I cannot fathom your reasons for disobeying the Allfather so flagrantly!" Thor said. It occurred to Ada that they were acting like two little boys trying to get each other in trouble.

Loki responded with some snide comment in Proto-Norse, obviously trying to goad Thor on. Thor took the bait and shouted something back in the language.

"ENOUGH, you two!" Odin said sternly, pounding the base of Gungnir on the floor. "Loki will be returned to confinement within his quarters. It was obviously a mistake to trust you with him." Thor looked away in shame. "As for the mortals, they shall be imprisoned in the dungeon until such a time that they can be safely returned to Midgard. Heimdall's eyes are needed to find Yggdrasil, and there will be no comings or goings via the Bifrost until we have secured it. Guards!"

Four einherjar marched forward at Odin's command. Two grabbed an indignant Loki by each arm. He quickly wrested himself out of their grip and brushed himself off. "I can find it myself, _thank you_", he spat. The einherjar looked to Odin for instructions on what to do next, but he simply nodded at Loki, who was swiftly walking away. They scuttled after him.

The other two einherjar seized Ada and Jane. Jane cried out as the soldier tightened his grip on her injured arm.

"Father, please! The dungeon is too harsh a place for them, they are only delicate mortals!" Thor begged Odin. "I will give up my quarters for them to stay in comfort, if I must!"

Odin stared into Thor's earnest face and sighed. "You resemble your mother so much, it's uncanny sometimes." Ada caught a hint of a smile on the old man's lips. He grew serious again. "But it must be done, as much for their safety as ours. Guards-"

"Please, sir!" Ada spoke up, her voice full of emotion. She had been watching the color drain from Jane's face as the einherjar maintained a firm grip on her arm. "My friend needs a doctor, or healer! We haven't done anything wrong, we didn't mean to come here or cause trouble!" Ada felt moisture on her face, and realized tears were pouring from her eyes. Exhaustion had gotten the better of her composure.

Odin's eye had gone glassy and he seemed to stare through Ada. Then, in a move that surprised everyone, he waved the einherjar back from the girls. Jane released an audible sigh of relief, rubbing her arm gently. Ada sniffed and dried her eyes on her cape. "Fine…" Odin almost looked angry at himself for changing his mind, as if he wasn't sure what had come over him. "Thor, take your Midgardian to the healing rooms. I will have the other one escorted to the guest quarters."

Thor was already almost out the door with Jane by the time Odin finished his sentence. He smiled in spite of himself, watching them go. He turned back to Ada, who was still wiping at tears, somewhat annoyed at herself that she didn't keep her cool in front of the king of the gods.

"Thank you", Ada said, trying to tidy herself. She attempted a curtsy.

The smile was gone from Odin's face. "What is your name, girl?" he demanded more than asked.

"A-Aðalrun. My name's Aðalrun", Ada stuttered. "But everyone calls me Ada."

"Mortal Aðalrun."A trace of a smile returned to Odin's face. "If you or Thor's lover cause any harm to befall my kingdom or my people, I will have you executed."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The einherjar guards kept a fast pace through the palace. Ada noticed that previously empty halls were now bustling with activity; maids and soldiers rushed to and fro, and every once in a while what looked to be a well-dressed palace resident walked past. The sun had set fully, and a multitude of torches now cast their dancing light on the gilded walls.

After turning down a particular corridor, the ratio of maids and servants to soldiers increased dramatically. The only einherjar Ada could see were those leading her, and a pair posted in front of a doorway toward the end of the hall on the left. Ada's guards stopped next door to the other guards, and the two pairs nodded to each other. One of Ada's guards produced a large golden key and inserted it into a golden keyhole in the grand wooden doors, turning it to produce a heavy "clonk". He pushed the doors open and stepped inside, followed by the second guard. Ada followed them obediently, keen not to upset anyone.

Before Ada got a chance to take in the contents of the room, the doors were slammed behind her, making her jump. She turned to see her guards had each taken a position beside the doorway and stood at stiff attention, eyes staring into the middle distance at nothing in particular.

"Uh, so…", Ada started nervously. "Is this my room then? Will Jane be coming? Er, she's the other Midgardian."

No answer. Ada smiled at them in the awkward silence, but her expression faded to a frown at the prolonged period of stillness.

"Helloooo?" She waved her hand in front of one of their faces. His eyes moved a miniscule amount (to glare at her) and then returned to a blank stare.

"Ah, like the Palace Guards in London…" Ada muttered to herself. She considered the pair for a moment more before turning to examine her quarters.

Like the rest of the palace, her room was decorated in warm tones of gold, yellow, and red, with hints of cooler colors mixed in to try and break up the monotony. It was a very organic space; there did not seem to be a straight wall in the whole room, they all had at least a gentle curve to them. To Ada's eyes, the décor of the room was a strange, but not unpleasant, mixture of Moroccan and Nordic. A cluster of colored glass lanterns hung at varying heights above what looked to be some sort of a couch mounted into the far right corner of the room. They cast a soft glow on the assorted pillows arranged tastefully on it. A fountain burbled peacefully in front of the arrangement.

Ada's eyes wandered to the right of the room where, to her delight, two colossal bookshelves stood, curved as well to fit flush against the wall. Although she could see quite a few large tomes nestled against Asgardian bookends and knickknacks, she forced herself to temporarily ignore them. Ada could feel her exhaustion in her bones, and she knew that she would be unable to do the books any justice if she examined them in her current state of mind.

Situated between two bulging walls at the back of the space (_Living room? Lounge?_ Ada wasn't sure what would be a proper name for the area) was a smaller wooden doorway, ringed by a golden knotwork pattern. Ada pushed the doors open gently and was greeted by a rush of warm air from a grand fireplace immediately to her right. The wall dividing the living room from the bedroom curved around it slightly, creating a cozy alcove. There were two enormous and impossibly poofy couches in front of the fire, begging to be burrowed into with a warm drink and a good book.

Tall windows stretched up to the ceiling on the opposite wall, and Ada walked towards them. Lifting a silky curtain, she peeked out and saw a beautiful vista of the city bathed in the light of the neighboring planets, which shone like two large moons. In the distance, Ada could see Heimdall's observatory, and beyond that, nothing but stars. _They seem so much brighter here than on earth_, she thought.

To Ada's left was another small but embellished door- Ada assumed that was the bathroom. She ignored it temporarily in favor of the gargantuan bed situated in the far corner of the room. The bed itself was nearly as tall as Ada's waist, and its grand and highly decorated headboard was butted up against the wall. About ten golden pillows were arranged tidily against it, and the blankets draped over the bed itself were richly embroidered. A bright white dressing gown was neatly laid in the center of the bed.

_Hm, only one…_ Ada thought. A worry passed through her mind about Jane, but it was quickly quelled by recalling that she was with Thor, the long-distance boyfriend she hadn't seen in over a year… _I'm sure she's doing just great_, Ada smiled to herself.

Ada began to undress, haphazardly throwing her cape, woolen dress, and undershirt onto the floor. She placed her belt bag and accessories on the bedside table, and pulled the dressing gown over her head. The fabric was soft and luxurious but breathable; although it looked thin, Ada could feel how insulating it was. She wondered how cold the nights got on Asgard.

Ada pulled back the sheets and removed several of the pillows from the bed. As she slipped under the covers, the light in the room seemed to dim. Disconcerted, Ada stepped out of bed and the light became brighter. Warily, Ada slipped her legs back into the sheets, and the light dimmed again. "Well, that's convenient", she said aloud.

She gazed sleepily at the flames dancing in the fireplace, and she caught a dark shape against the wall out of the corner of her eye. Ada sat up slightly to try and see it more clearly. It was a very modest wooden door with a simple handle and a ragged keyhole, although in Ada's grogginess it almost looked like the figure of a man. She wondered what the point of it was, when all the other doors were so highly decorated. She concluded that it must be firewood storage or something of the like and rolled over, snuggling into the supple pillows.

A mischievous green eye blinked on the other side of the keyhole.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note**: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

Ada slowly opened her eyes just a crack and basked in the warm sunlight streaming through the curtains. She smiled and closed her eyes again, burrowing deeper into her cocoon of fluffy duvet. _I'm glad I went to bed so early last night_, she thought. _Otherwise I would've been wiped after… after…_

Ada's eyes popped open and she sat bolt upright in bed. She whipped her head around, taking in her surroundings to confirm that, indeed, she was in the guest quarters of the royal palace of Asgard. The room was just as beautiful in the morning sunshine as it was by firelight, if not more so.

But Ada was immediately distracted as memories of the last 24 hours continued to flow through her mind. She placed her hand to her forehead, the room beginning to spin around her. All of her thoughts and memories suddenly converged on one thing, restoring Ada's stability: "Jane…", she said softly, looking up.

She hadn't seen her since Thor carted her off to "the healing rooms", whatever those were. She hoped that Asgardian medicine was much more advanced than that of the ancient Norse whose language they seemed to speak.

Ada swung her feet out of the sheets and almost tumbled out of bed; she had forgotten how tall it was. She gathered her volva costume off the floor and had started to pull her Asgardian pajamas off when, without so much as a knock, her bedroom door was thrown open.

Startled, Ada scrambled back onto the bed, tugging her nightdress back on in the process. Several women, dressed plainly in dark brown frocks over white undershirts, streamed into the room and began to putter about, opening the curtains, stoking the fire, and generally tidying. One even went into the bathroom, which Ada realized she needed with a sinking feeling.

The maids apparently took no notice of her as they went about their business. One began to pick up her costume, again forgotten on the floor when Ada jumped into bed. She turned and started to walk out the bedroom door.

"Oh… uh… hey!" Ada called after her, venturing out of bed again. The maid froze. "I, uh, don't have anything else to wear, so could I keep those?"

The maid turned her head slightly to look at Ada out of the corner of her eye with a mixture of revulsion and fear. The other maids, done with their chores, hurried out the door in front of her.

"Sorry?" Ada said, not sure how to respond to such a reaction. She took a step toward the maid and the maid took a step away, keeping Ada in her peripheral vision. Ada frowned and stepped forward again, and again the maid echoed her movement, keeping the distance between them.

Ada sighed and authoritatively walked toward the maid, who all but ran out the door. As Ada passed through the doorway, she was greeted by a cold glare from an older maid with a stern, pointed face, emphasized by the fact that her hair was pulled back severely. She wore a short headscarf and a fair amount of jewelry, which singled her out from the other maids.

"I am Drifa, head of the maidservants of the palace," the woman said in a monotone voice. "May I ask why you are accosting one of my maids, m'lady?" She pronounced the last word with a mix of sarcasm and resentment.

Ada matched her glare, tired of being treated like she had some sort of disease. "Accosting…? She took my clothes, and I asked for them back. When she didn't give them back, I followed her to try to talk to her and…"

Movement to her left caught Ada's eye. To her surprise, einherjar were swarming over her bookshelves. Several were already filing out the door with books in hand.

"H-hey!" Dismayed, Ada ran over to them. She looked around frantically at the now nearly bare shelves. Ada realized they were not her books to begin with, but she had looked forward to browsing through them. "Could I at least keep a couple…?", she asked sheepishly.

One of the einherjar turned to her and gave her the now-familiar look of disgust and dislike. "You are imprisoned on suspicion of being a sorceress. You are to have no access to Asgardian books, as you may use them as weapons against the kingdom."

Ada's arms fell to her sides helplessly as she stared at him in disbelief. "Oh COME ON", she finally said, balling her fists. "I am a LINGUIST, the worst I could do to you is phonetically analyze your sentences! I'm not a volva, or a sorceress, so stop treating me like I'm covered in slugs or something! I told Odin, ask him!"

The einherjar raised an eyebrow at her casual mention of the king. "The Allfather was the one who ordered your books to be removed," he said as he turned back to the shelves and snatched the final small tome from between two bookends. He then walked out, doors closing behind him. Two einherjar remained to guard the door.

Ada threw up her hands in defeat and sulked back to her room. "Worst Halloween costume ever…" she muttered.

She pulled the door shut and leaned against it. She stared at her feet, sighing heavily. To her surprise, another pair of feet entered her vision. Ada looked up and met Drifa's still frosty glare.

"You have an entire wardrobe at your disposal, m'lady," she said, turning and walking toward two tall standalone closets that Ada had assumed were empty. "You have no further need for those… rags."

Ada frowned, remembering how expensive her woolen dress was when she bought it in Norway. She grumpily followed Drifa around the front of the closets. A small dressing table with a mirror stood in a corner of the room Ada had not noticed before, as it was partly obscured by the enormous pieces of furniture. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, and was horrified by the state of her hair, which gave her the appearance of a ginger dandelion. She nervously pawed at it, trying to get it to lay flat.

Drifa ignored her and flung one of the closets open, revealing a rainbow of dresses made of a variety of materials. Ada instantly forgot her hair and stared at them in awe. She reached out and took the sleeve of one between her fingers, rubbing it thoughtfully. And she had thought her dressing gown was soft!

"I have been instructed to assist you with your dress and toilet, as I have been told that you may be confounded by Asgardian clothing," Drifa said, looking at Ada out of the corner of her eye.

Ada withdrew her hand from the dresses and blushed. "I think I'll be okay with my… toilet… thanks," she said. "And this all looks pretty straight forward, I think I can do it myself."

Drifa walked to the other closet and opened its doors as well, exposing an array of shining metal breastplates and other armor. She looked over her shoulder at Ada, a hint of a grim smile on her lips.

"Oh…" Ada trailed off. "I see what you mean."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ada sat at a long table in the living area of her quarters. She stared at her einherjar guards with her elbows on the table, her chin resting on her hands, willing them to twitch or sneeze. She estimated it had been about five minutes without so much as a deep breath from either of them. She straightened her back and adjusted the golden half-breastplate that Drifa had selected for her outfit.

She scooted her chair back noisily, hoping for some reaction from the einherjar, but she was again disappointed. She stood up and stretched, pushing her chair back under the table with her foot. She admired how the almost translucent fabric of her dress draped over her ankle.

Ada spun to walk to her bedroom door, purposely letting her skirt twirl in a large circle around her. She was pleased with her choice of outfit: a long, flowing gown made of something resembling silk, but somehow not entirely opaque. It had a cowl neck that revealed her collar bone, and tulip-style sleeves that split into graceful waterfalls of pink gossamer beneath her golden shoulder plates. The fabric of the gown faded from a forest green to the same shade of rose pink as her sleeves at the hem. Drifa's choice of Asgardian armor accessories (which were apparently a thing… Ada wondered about the cultural origins of wearing such protection casually) gave the gown more of a shape; the breast plate stopped at where an empire waist normally would, and while Ada was afraid it would be terribly uncomfortable, Drifa assured her that the metal was engineered to move with her body and fit its form.

Well, Drifa had specifically said it was ENCHANTED to move freely and fit her form, but Ada had spent enough time around Jane to be suspicious of any explanation that consisted of simply "magic". There had to be a logical explanation for it, just as there had to be for Loki's teleportation… and Yggdrasil's galaxy-bearing branches… and the fire jotun's shape shifting… well. It was kind of over Ada's head, but she was confident that Jane would be able to figure it all out if she had enough time to examine the phenomena.

_Ugh, Jane_… Ada thought, walking further into her bed chamber, closing the door behind her. _I hope she's having more fun than I am…_

She surveyed her room, looking for something else to do. Her eyes came to rest on the boring wooden door by the fireplace that she noticed the night before. She strode toward it confidently and reached out to touch it.

Ada ran her hand over the door's rough wood, recoiling with a squeak when it gave her a splinter. She carefully drew the sliver of wood out of her finger, and sucked on the small wound thoughtfully. When she was satisfied it wouldn't start bleeding, she began to inspect the door more closely.

Its handle was in such woeful shape that Ada thought it would give her more splinters just looking at it. The keyhole, too, had seen better days; she doubted that it could even function as a locking mechanism at this point. Wanting to avoid further injury, she elected to try the door by putting her pinky finger in the keyhole and pulling.

Ada fully expected the door to be stuck shut, but, to her surprise, it popped easily open to reveal… another door. This door was in much the same state as the first one, but its hinges indicated that it would open outward instead.

Ada considered it for a while. It was the same concept that was used for adjoining hotel rooms, but did she have access to the room on the other side of the door? Or would she be executed for "invading the palace" or some other absurd crime if she tried to open it?

She decided to play it safe and just peek through the keyhole. She looked behind her first, to make sure her guards hadn't suddenly become mobile and were watching her. Satisfied, she pressed her eye to the keyhole.

The other room seemed to be set up almost as a mirror image of her own. However, Ada noted with interest, everything seemed to be on a much grander scale. The bed, in fact, was almost laughably grand; it was easily bigger than hers by a half, and featured the addition of a tall canopy with rich green curtains, lavishly embroidered in gold. She imagined that the occupant would have to climb a ladder just to get into bed at night.

Next to the bed stood a tall bookshelf; it was so tall that Ada couldn't see the top of it. It was crammed with volumes great and small, and she squinted to try to read the spines through the keyhole. She envied whoever possessed such an amazing collection.

She withdrew her eye from the hole and stepped back, closing her door in front of her. She wandered toward the tall windows at the end of her own bed, trailing her fingers along its footboard, trying to think of a possible occupant for the other room. Was it for visiting royalty? Or perhaps another god? It had to be a god's room, no mere mortal could deal with a bed that large.

As Ada came closer to the windows, she realized that there were actually delicate doors built into them that led out to a large stone balcony. They had spindly, curving golden handles and, much to Ada's delight, no locks. She eagerly but gently opened one of the doors and stepped outside.

A soft, warm breeze stirred the fabric of her dress and she smiled. The view from the balcony was stunning, even better than the one that Jane had taken a picture of the night before. The morning sun shone on the metallic buildings of Asgard, making them sparkle like a sea of glitter. The Bifrost, running from the city to Heimdall's observatory, seemed to flow like a river as the light danced on it. To Ada's surprise, she could still see a multitude of stars on the horizon beyond the observatory.

She walked to the edge of the balcony and placed her hands on the thick stone railing that ran around it. To either side she could see similar balconies, although they seemed to increase in size to her right, reinforcing her idea that the neighboring room belonged to a god. She stuck her head over the edge of the balcony to see if there were rooms below as well. She found she couldn't get a good view, so despite the fantastic height, she stretched her neck a little bit more. Ada immediately regretted the decision, as she quickly began to feel dizzy. She wasn't sure if it was the height, or the smell of burning hair…

Ada jumped back and screamed, drumming on the top of her head to make sure her hair wasn't alight. All she found was an extremely warm patch and a few singed hairs. She looked up again to see a glowing orange knotwork pattern fading in the air where her head had just been.

"What the…?" Ada stepped forward and reached out to touch the area where the pattern had formed.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a smooth voice called from her right. Ada withdrew her hand with a start and whirled around to face the source of the voice. It was just as she thought; her neighbor was a god.

And that god was Loki.

Instead of his leather-heavy ensemble from the night before, Loki wore a simple green shirt made of a cotton-like material under a long, black vest with broad shoulder pads. His loose black trousers dragged on the floor around his bare feet. Ada noticed that his outfit did not conform to the armor-as-accessories style that Drifa had forced her into; she wondered if he was still wearing pajamas.

"You really are quite stupid, aren't you," Loki drawled, apparently amused by his own superiority. "You just set your hair on fire, and your first inclination is to touch whatever burnt you in the first place? Truly amazing."

Ada glared at him with all her might, still angry at him for… well, everything, but particularly for calling her out in front of Odin after the battle. She marched to the farthest right edge of her balcony, and was disappointed to find there was a wide gap between where hers ended and Loki's began. God or not, she wanted to give him a good slap. She gripped the railing hard in frustration.

Loki's eyes twinkled at her reaction. "I am surprised, though, that Odin had a shield put in place around the room of a being that is so frightfully inept," he continued. "Perhaps he wants to prevent you from falling from your balcony by accident."

"Shield?" Ada said incredulously. "What do they think I'm gonna do, fly away? Ugh, this is getting ridiculous."

Ada frowned at her hands on the railing and sighed. Slowly, she looked back up to scowl at Loki's smug expression, caught between the urge to shout obscenities at him or to respectfully withdraw to her bedroom. Here she was, meeting the deities so often referenced in her studies, and instead of the wealth of information she had hoped they would be, she found that one was terrifying, and the other was… well, Loki. Thor (and Heimdall) seemed nice enough, but while Jane was probably getting a guided tour of the palace from her Asgardian boyfriend, Ada was locked up next to a wanted criminal with questionable intentions. She sighed again, more heavily this time, and directly at Loki.

His smugness was turned down a couple of degrees by her display. "What in the Nine Realms could be causing you such dissatisfaction? You are living in a state of luxury the likes of which no mortal has ever known, among beings far greater than yourself and your peers, and yet you sigh? Midgard must have no concept of gratitude," he said sourly.

"Hey, I never asked to get abducted from my home planet and taken to some alien world… or godly realm… or _whatever_ this is!" Ada almost yelled at him. She closed her eyes and continued more calmly, "Look. I fully appreciate the… _privilege_ of being here, believe me. I've read all of the Norse myths about a thousand times, both for research and pleasure, and before that, they were my bedtime stories. But everyone I've spoken to in the palace treats me like I have the plague, and now they seem to think I'm a sorceress. I suppose that's why my room has a shield."

Loki crossed his arms and looked bored. "And have you given them a reason to make that assumption? _Someone_ must have been bewitched at some point for you to be promoted from the dungeon to royal guest quarters."

Ada rolled her eyes. "If I could bewitch people, I wouldn't have been dressed like a volva at a university Halloween party last night. I think Odin… er, the Allfather," she corrected herself, "decided not to put us in the dungeon out of pity for Jane's injury."

"Pity?" Loki spat, rage filling his eyes. He turned his back to Ada to disguise the sudden overflow of emotion. "There does not exist a single shred of pity in his body. What he parades in front of people as pity are actually the thinly-veiled political machinations of a heartless man." He looked over his shoulder to glower at Ada. "Perhaps he put you here to punish me in my confinement," he said somewhat sarcastically.

Ada stared at him, deadpan, unsure of how to react to his outburst and subsequent insult. Irritated by his attitude, she crossed her arms as well. "After what you did to New York, you deserve more than me as punishment," she scoffed. "At least you have your books to keep you distracted."

"As do you," Loki retorted. "All guest rooms are stocked with a variety of literature. Thor's Midgardian told us that you were an academic; why don't you try to better yourself by absorbing some of our superior writings."

"Nope, I'm a sorceress, remember?" Ada wiggled her fingers by the sides of her face menacingly. "A bunch of soldiers took my books because I'll apparently use them to take over the kingdom." She sadly gazed off to her left, distracting herself with the beauty of the city.

"They _took_ them?" A look of genuine shock crossed Loki's face for a moment as he turned to face her again. He quickly coached his expression back into a mix of smugness and disinterest. "My, that is a cruel and unusual punishment. What have you done to prompt them to treat you so brutally?"

Ada knitted her brow and continued to stare into the distance, unable to think of a good comeback. She sighed and decided to ignore him.

"More sighing? There will be no more air left to breathe in Asgard if you continue this way. Perhaps you mean to destroy us with your incessant depression." Loki's mouth twisted into a playful smirk as he awaited her reaction. He grew frustrated as she continued to disregard him.

Ada turned on her heel and walked back towards the door to her room. She had had enough of being insulted by a god; it was more fun to stare at the einherjar.

"Knock on my door tonight… I believe you know the one," it was just a whisper, but Ada heard Loki's voice as loudly as if he was standing right next to her, despite him standing a whole balcony away. She blushed when she realized he knew about her spying, but kept walking.

"I will put an end to your intellectual drought."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note**: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

Ada slipped back into her bedroom through the balcony door and pulled it shut somewhat violently. She suddenly wished it _did_ have a lock.

She wanted to pull her curtains closed to prevent any possibility of godly prying eyes, but she found that the maids had tied them back with cords braided into complex and highly decorative knots. She picked at them, befuddled, but quickly gave up trying to undo them.

Ada remembered the pillow covered couch nestled in the corner of her living quarters. She walked quickly to her bedroom door, pulled it open, and made a beeline for the secluded seating area. She was immediately thankful for the presence of some light curtains hanging beside it; she swiftly drew them. She didn't particularly want to stare at the einherjar while she tried to burrow a hole into the mountain of pillows.

Ada wasn't sure why she felt such a strong urge to hide; it was certainly not out of fear. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but her conversation with Loki- especially that last bit- had stirred something in her.

From her pillow cave, she watched the gentle rustling of the curtains and listened to the soothing burble of the fountain beyond them. She hugged a small spherical pillow to her chest, almost vibrating with energy and excitement. For the first time since the Yggdrasil incident, Ada was actually excited to be in Asgard. The outlook for the remainder of her captivity seemed positive, if Loki would lend her books! Maybe, if he could stop insulting the human race and her own intelligence every other sentence, she could interview him about the use of Proto-Norse on Asgard! And if he didn't outright murder her, perhaps they could discuss Norse mythology!

The more Ada thought about it, the less excited she became. She released her death grip on the spherical pillow and pushed it down the couch, watching it roll. This was, after all, the invitation of a trickster god; taking it with a grain of salt would be putting too much faith in it. She kicked the pillow the rest of the way across the couch until it fell to the floor.

As far as Ada could tell, there were two possible outcomes of the potential rendezvous: Possibility one was that Loki would invite her into his room and somehow use her presence to make himself the victim, possibly by calling his guards and claiming that she had broken in. Possibility two would be that he killed her.

Loki seemed slightly less homicidal toward humans since his attack on New York, at least in the case of Ada and Jane; Ada figured he wouldn't dare threaten Jane due to the probability that Thor would dismember him for harming a hair on her head. But Ada didn't have the advantage of divine protection, and Loki certainly didn't seem to feel the friendliest toward her (although he was marginally more polite than the palace staff). Possibility two was less likely than possibility one, but the fact that it had any likelihood at all concerned her.

And then there was the dark horse: the idea that, perhaps, it was as Loki had originally said, and he did bring Ada to Asgard because he was bored. Maybe he just wanted some company, even if it was from a lowly and unworthy Midgardian.

Ada supposed that Loki's boredom did play a large part in his offer, no matter what his intentions. The real question was if he was bored enough to keep her around.

Ada agonized over the situation for the next hour or so and had nearly fallen asleep in her pillow fort when she heard her doors open, followed by the clatter of something metal. Before she could extract herself from the couch, the doors had closed again with a bang. She stuck her head out through the curtains warily.

The two einherjar guards remained statue like in their positions. However, on the table from where Ada had stared at them earlier, there was an enormous tray of steaming food and drink. The heavenly smell drew Ada out from behind the curtains.

She hadn't realized how hungry she was until that moment. She had received no breakfast, although she had been too preoccupied to notice, and her stomach grumbled expectantly. She pulled out her chair and sat down to enjoy the feast.

She spread the included golden napkin over her lap and looked under and around the multiple plates for utensils. Surely they didn't expect her to eat a bowl of soup, a platter of cooked vegetables, and an entire chicken without cutlery? Surely they didn't expect her to eat all that, period?

Ada picked up the enormous chalice of liquid that stood next to her food and sniffed it. The aromatic and honey-rich smell of mead filled her nostrils. She had no idea what time it was in Asgard, but for her regular standards, it felt too early to partake in fermented beverages. But, really, recent events had sort of nullified her regular standards; she took a hearty swig.

A memory flitted through Ada's mind as she savored the mead- the first time her father had let her taste the stuff that he called _mjoð_. She was underage at the time, probably about thirteen, and she felt so mature when her father had offered her a sip. He had laughed when she screwed up her face in reaction to the flavor, which was quite a bit more potent than she had expected.

Ada hadn't thought of that in a long time; not since before her father died three years ago. She wondered what he would make of her situation, and smiled to herself sadly.

She took another gulp of mead both to clear her mind and to prepare her for the mammoth task of disassembling the chicken without utensils. She successfully freed a drumstick without much trouble and set it next to the rest of the chicken. Ada was quite pleased with her work; she rewarded herself with another mouthful of mead.

She worked her way through most of the chicken and half of the mead in that manner. Full of liquid courage, she was no longer concerned with the lack of utensils- she lifted the soup bowl to her lips and slurped it loudly. She followed the soup with a bite of cooked carrot, which actually was a bit difficult to manage without a fork and knife. Finally, she picked up a drumstick and tore the meat right off the bone with her teeth.

Ada ate the rest of her meal with all the manners of a cave man and drained her chalice. She was feeling pretty good about life. She wiped her face with her napkin and tossed it next to the leftovers of the chicken. She leaned her chair onto its back two legs and stretched her arms over her head, sighing happily. She brought the chair back down on all four legs with a clatter and stood up, brushing herself off.

She toddled over to her barren bookshelves. Her legs felt like noodles beneath her flowing skirt, but she made it. She turned and leaned against one of the shelves for stability, and shouted at her guards, "You may have taken my books, but I can still look at your Asgardian doo-dads!"

Ada snatched one of the miscellaneous objects from the shelf and carried it over to the small reading desk that stood nearby. She plopped herself down in the chair to examine what she had grabbed.

It was a small bust, about the size of the palm of her hand, of a woman with long wavy hair tumbling down her shoulders. It was made of shining orange stone; Ada thought it might be amber. The woman wore a rather mischievous smile, quite similar to Loki's, actually. She wondered if it was perhaps a depiction of Sigyn, Loki's wife in the Norse tales Ada was familiar with. She turned the bust over and over, but her slightly unfocused vision could find no inscription to indicate the identity of the woman.

Where was Sigyn, anyway? Ada had heard no mention of her during her time in Asgard. She wondered if she ever visited Loki in his confinement. But, come to think of it, where was Thor's wife Sif? Ada really hoped that Thor had not taken Jane as a mistress, or Loki would not be the only god in need of a slap.

A quiet rap on her front door interrupted Ada's thoughts. The einherjar stood aside as the doors slowly opened. Ada figured it was probably a maid coming to collect the remains of her lunch, and returned to examining the bust. She didn't want to scare any other palace staff by, god forbid, looking at them.

"…Ada?"

Ada stood up so quickly that her chair fell over behind her. "Jane?!" she almost squealed, face cracking into a wide smile.

Jane cautiously walked in, wary of the glaring einherjar. They immediately snapped to attention when they realized Thor was behind her. Jane was wearing an outfit similar to Ada's, only in shades of blue and with silver armor. It complimented the long navy blue cape that Thor was wrapped in.

Ada ran to Jane, miraculously not tripping in the process, and threw her arms around her. Their breastplates came together with a dull clunk of metal, and they both giggled at the absurdity of it all.

Ada pulled away, wobbling a bit, which did not escape Jane's notice. She took a deep breath of the air around her. "Jeez, Ada, you reek of mead!" she laughed.

Ada blushed slightly, but doubted that it would be visible on her already alcohol-flushed cheeks. "Come into my living room!" She made a grand gesture and almost sent the amber bust flying from her hand. She hadn't realized she was still holding it.

Jane and Thor followed the direction of Ada's arm to the long table where she had just finished her lunch. The einherjar closed the doors behind them. The girls pulled out chairs and sat next to each other, ready to quiz one another on what had gone on since they had parted the night before. However, Thor remained standing, regarding Ada curiously.

"Why are you carrying around a bust of my mother?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ada blushed again and was fairly confident that it was noticeable this time. "Uh… well, they took my books," she said in an unsteady voice. She didn't really have an excuse. Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes at Thor, remembering her initial questions about the identity of the bust. Inhibitions thrown to the wind, she snapped accusingly, "Where's your wife, by the way?!"

Jane stared at her with wide eyes, and then frowned as well, standing up and whirling to face Thor. "Your _what_?!" she said, her voice low and threatening.

Thor was caught off guard by the sudden hostility. He glared past Jane at Ada, anger flashing in his normally cheerful eyes. "Why do you slander me so, Midgardian? What reason have you to besmirch my name to the woman I love?" The einherjar shifted at the tone of his questions, ready to defend their lord if necessary.

Ada took no notice and continued. "Oh please! I know the myths. I don't want you jerking Jane around anymore." She felt like she should stand up to be on the same level as Jane and Thor to better get her point across, but her legs still felt unsteady, so she stayed seated. She faced Jane and explained, "He's married to a harvest goddess named Sif, and-"

She was interrupted by a snort from Thor. "Sif? My wife? She has no more desire for a husband than a bilgesnipe does for a saddle!" He laughed at his own joke, which was lost on the girls. "Fear not, my dear Jane, my heart lies only with you." The einherjar relaxed as Thor sat down across from Ada, and Jane sank back down into her seat.

Ada was dumbstruck. "But… why would the myths be wrong? What about Sigyn, Loki's wife?" she asked haltingly.

"Sigyn?" Thor thought for a moment then shook his head. "I know of no being by that name. Nor am I aware of any romantic inclinations from my brother in the past several centuries," he said, then smiled roguishly. "He was quite infatuated with Lady Sif for a time, as I recall, although she gave him quite the rebuff. Your myths do not seem to be very accurate." He shrugged and placed his hand on Jane's for further reassurance. Jane smiled at him.

Ada stuck out her jaw in frustration at being in the wrong. She plonked the bust onto the table in front of Thor and demanded, "Who's this then?"

"I told you before, that is a statue of my mother, Queen Frigga." Thor smiled at the bust and picked it up gently. "She will be amused to know that her likeness is being used as decoration in the guest rooms these days!"

Ada sighed, defeated and somewhat confused by the mythological inconsistencies. She hoped she would be able to make better sense of things when she was sober. "So, how was your day?" she asked weakly, facing Jane again.

"You would not believe the things that Thor has shown me!" Words began to tumble from Jane's mouth in quick succession. Ada never could quite wrap her head around Jane's science chats at the best of times, but her inebriation made it almost impossible to follow what she was talking about. Ada was lost at the mention of a "quantum field generator" in the healing rooms, which Jane mentioned in her first breath.

"Lady Ada, am I correctly assuming that you have finished your lunch?" Thor interjected, eyeing the remains of the chicken.

"Yeah, go ahead," Ada sighed, smiling, then let Jane continue her lecture. Thor proceeded to pick up the entire chicken carcass and rip a large chunk of meat off of it with his teeth. Ada watched him, fascinated by his carnivorous efficiency.

"…and past that, there was a HUGE library," Jane continued, ignoring Thor's animalistic display.

"Go on," Ada purred, her undivided attention immediately on Jane.

"Ha, glad I have your interest now!" Jane chuckled. "The shelves reached to the ceiling, and it was a TALL ceiling. I've never seen that many books in my life!"

Ada stared at Jane with a faraway look in her eyes, trying to live vicariously through her friend. "What were they like? How old were they? Did you get to hold any of them?"

"A lot of them were huge, like everything else seems to be here. I was able to look through a couple, but I couldn't read them." Jane's expression changed to an annoyed frown as she remembered the helpless feeling of being unable to unlock the information held within the books. "Thor said that they're written in the Alltongue and that I should be able to read them, 'cause _apparently_ all the peoples of the universe are able to-"

Thor nodded in confirmation, chewing loudly.

"-but unfortunately this Alltongue is written exclusively in runes, which are not exactly my specialty. It's driving me crazy to have the entire scientific corpus of this planet at my fingertips, but no way to study it!" Jane brought her splayed fingers up to her face dramatically.

By this point, Ada wished more than anything she had full command of her mental faculties. What Jane was saying was a revolution in the field of linguistics, and possibly neuroscience as well; a language that could be processed by anyone would be one of the most ground breaking discoveries in the history of mankind! Ada briefly entertained thoughts of a Nobel Prize with her name on it, then tried her best to return to the present. She smiled brightly at Jane. "Aren't you glad Loki brought me along?" she asked in a singsong tone.

"I already was!" Jane smiled back, relieved. "But yeah, there don't seem to be any English-to-rune books in the library, despite its size. Maybe if I brought you a children's book or something, and you translated it to English letters-"

"Books are forbidden in these chambers," an einherjar suddenly boomed. Ada dropped her forehead to the table, groaning in frustration. "As are weapons, both magical and mundane. This mortal is held on suspicion of subversive sorcery by-"

Thor swallowed and held up his hand to silence the guard. He turned to Jane, who was gazing at him with questions in her eyes. "Unfortunately, the einherjar speaks the truth. While you have free reign of the palace under my supervision, the Allfather has deemed it necessary to confine your friend to her chambers indefinitely, and without access to anything that may be used against Asgard."

"Seriously?" Jane looked from Thor to Ada, who still was face down on the table, and back to Thor, her expression a mix of disbelief and amusement. "I can't think of someone who would be _less_ of a threat to Asgard!"

Ada shifted her head on the table to glare at Jane. "Thanks for your vote of confidence," she grumbled.

"If my father has restricted her movements to such an extent, he must have a sound reason for doing so." Thor closed his eyes and crossed his arms, indicating that he was done with the subject.

But Jane wasn't. "Your dad hasn't exactly made the best decisions about prisoners lately!" Thor shot her a look, which she ignored. "Well, he hasn't! How does Ada end up with the same prison sentence as your brother, who destroyed an entire city?! He should be chained up in a dungeon right now!"

This conversation was obviously no longer about Ada's freedom of movement, she noted. She sat up to listen.

"Jane," Thor began in a strained tone. "I told you, Loki was not himself when he attacked New York. The Tesseract was amplifying his hostilities tenfold, and when combined with his torture at the hands of the Chitauri, he can hardly be held accountable for his actions."

_Huh, interesting tidbit_, Ada thought. _Maybe he _won't_ kill me if I visit him_.

Jane was far from satisfied. "And what about that thing he sent to kill you in New Mexico? Or was he under the influence of some other conveniently mystical object?"

Thor winced at the memory. "We had been having some… family troubles…" He trailed off.

"Yeah, I know if I ever argue with my family, my first reaction is to hunt them down with giant robots," Jane said, mocking and angry.

An awkward silence followed. Ada cleared her throat. "Ah, returning to the previous topic…" Thor looked thankful for the noise, but Jane scowled at her. "If you could get me a pen and paper, I could write out a rune-to-Latin alphabet conversion chart to help you read the books in the library."

This time, there was no protest from the einherjar, so she continued. "And maybe you could send a bit of extra paper? It looks like I'm going to be pretty bored until you solve the Yggdrasil problem… any progress with that, by the way?" she asked hopefully.

Both Jane and Thor shook their heads, the argument temporarily forgotten. "Alas, no," Thor said sadly. "For reasons unknown to us, Heimdall is unable to see Yggdrasil in any of the Nine Realms. He is currently trying to search the dark places between the realms, but that is a difficult task, even for the likes of him."

Ada hung her head in disappointment. "Well, Jane," she sighed melodramatically, "looks like you're gonna have to enjoy Asgard for the both of us, while I waste away and die from lack of mental stimulus." As much as she wanted to tell Jane about Loki's offer, she didn't want the guards to catch wind of it. Best to just play the part for now.

Jane couldn't help but smile at Ada's hyperbole. "I'm sure we'll figure something out. And I'll come visit you every day!"

"Aw, you crazy kids just enjoy yourselves!" Ada punched Jane on the shoulder playfully. "Where's your room, by the way? Are we neighbors?"

Jane and Thor both blushed. Avoiding eye contact, Jane stammered, "Uh, well, I'm… staying in Thor's room…"

Ada said nothing, but smiled lecherously and waggled her eyebrows.

"Time to be off, I think!" Thor said abruptly, standing and backing towards the doors. "Ada, I will have paper, pen and ink sent to you as soon as possible!"

Ada giggled at their shared embarrassment. "Thanks! It won't take me too long to make the chart, just stop in tomorrow!"

Jane and Ada stood and embraced, and Jane followed Thor to the now open doors. Jane waved, and Ada wiggled her fingers suggestively back. As the doors swung closed, Ada caught the beginning of a second wave of blushing. She laughed and walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Now she just had to sober up and wait for the sun to go down. Best to have your wits about you when you're having a midnight rendezvous with the god of mischief!

**PS:** I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story thus far! It means so much to me to know that people are reading it and enjoying it. In particular, I'd like to thank Wyrdwoman and Lylabeth 1 for their input, I love that you guys are really engaging with it 3

On the off-chance that anyone wants to make fanworks, feel free to post them on Tumbler with the tag Silver Tongue Golden Tongue! I have a couple of drawings there myself, and a map of Ada's room :)

Thanks again everyone!

**PPS:** There was originally more food description in this chapter, but I cut it for length and because it was making me hungry lol


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note**: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

Ada decided to do what any reasonable afternoon drunk would do in the face of an upcoming event that called for sobriety: she took a nap. Fully clothed, of course, because she didn't quite trust herself to be able to put her armor accessories back on.

When she awoke, she was not sure how much time had passed. The sun was still up, but it was lower in the sky than when she went to sleep. She felt somewhat groggy, but she wasn't certain if the cause was the lingering effects of the mead or intergalactic jet lag (wormhole lag?). Ada wondered what the Asgardian method of timekeeping was- their ships possessed jet engines, so surely clocks were not beyond their technological reach. But Asgard was a strange place; despite obvious advancements in other areas, the einherjar still carried swords and spears.

Ada delicately removed herself from her bed, unsure about the state of her sense of balance. She found her legs to be much more stable than before, although standing was giving her a headache. She adjusted her dress and breastplate (which was actually quite comfortable to sleep in- it _must_ be enchanted) and made her way to the bathroom to get herself a drink.

_Jane was certainly right about everything being big here_, Ada thought as she entered the bathroom. She had been in it that morning but did not get to explore the room fully, as Drifa was waiting to help her get dressed at the time. The sink basin was wide but shallow, more for looks than for utility. Other fixtures were located behind a half wall, including a shower area and a grand stone and gold bathtub. Ada selected a small silver cup from beside the sink and filled it from the tap. The palace benefitted from running water, hot and cold, although she thought the Asgardians might have a more magical explanation for how everything functioned.

Ada drank her cup of water and filled it up again. Exiting the bathroom, she glanced out the window at the sparkling city, but resisted the urge to go outside to better enjoy it. She didn't want to accidently run into Loki again… that would be an awkward conversation. "Yeah, so, I'm excited to come visit you tonight, since I've reasoned that you're probably not going to kill me! Really looking forward to it!"

Ada's stomach did a flip-flop at the thought, and she turned from the windows to go into her living room. It was going to be difficult not to stress herself silly before the sun set.

When she opened the door, though, it was like Christmas morning: on the table, in place of her lunch platter, sat several objects wrapped in blue fabric embroidered with a subtle damask pattern. Her previous worries all but forgotten, Ada excitedly slid into one of the chairs without pulling it out, her breastplate knocking against the table.

One of the packages was square-ish, one was small and round, and the last was thin and oblong. She pulled the square one to her first, tugging at the ribbon that held the material wrapping in place.

"A gift from Prince Thor," one of the einherjar declared, causing Ada to almost jump out of her chair in shock.

She looked up at them but was unable to tell which one had spoken. "Th-thank you," she quietly said, trying to direct her words at both of them. When she received nothing but silence in return, she sighed and returned to her gifts.

She gently unfolded the fabric around the square package to reveal, as she had suspected, a large stack of paper. She picked up a sheet and rubbed it between her fingers, grinning. It was soft, almost cottony; it felt like the pages of an antique book.

Ada laid the sheet back on the pile and opened the other two parcels. The round one turned out to be a (heavily embellished) pot of ink, and the long one was a bundle of several elegant feather quills. She suddenly felt like a well-equipped medieval scribe.

She gathered her new toys and carried them back to her bedroom, where there was a small round table. She was already getting a bit tired of the "avoid the einherjar" game; what was the point of having a living room if you were going to have two soldiers staring at you the whole time you were in there?

She arranged her tools on the table and removed the lid from the bottle of ink. She dipped the tip of a quill into it, and drew a swirl on the first sheet of paper as a test. She then wrote her name, to see how she could handle letters. The quill was surprisingly smooth and maneuverable- when Ada had taken calligraphy class in school, she didn't remember it being this easy. _Probably enchanted_, she thought to herself.

She selected a fresh piece of paper and set to work on Jane's rune chart.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ada drew in the finishing touches on a border in the style of the knotwork designs around her room. This was the most decorative linguistic chart in the history of linguistic charts. She had even written Jane's name in (crude) calligraphy across the top of the page, along with an overly detailed title.

The light was really starting to fade outside now, and the faint silhouettes of the moon-planets were becoming visible. Ada stared out the window with some trepidation at the change.

When dinner came, she only picked at it, despite it being an even larger potion than she received at lunch. She was particularly careful not to overdo it with the mead.

By the time she was finished, it could properly be called evening. As the last sliver of sun fell below the horizon, Ada's front door swung open suddenly and the same maids from that morning filed in. They went around her and moved straight to the bedroom to close the curtains and… whatever else it was they did.

Drifa lingered next to Ada at the table. "I have been commanded to assist with your undress, my lady," she said looking down at her, seemingly devoid of emotion.

Ada was temporarily mortified at the thought of greeting Loki in her pajamas (although he apparently did not have the same reservations). She scrambled to make up an excuse. "Oh, uh, I can handle this part! I, uh, want to figure it out for myself, so you don't need to help me in the future!"

Drifa looked unimpressed. "But it would be simpler if I were to show you-"

"Nope! Nope, I'm fine! Thanks though!" Ada quickly scooted her chair back and scurried to her bedroom. She liked Drifa despite her cold exterior, and felt a little bad turning down her help. She was the only Asgardian (besides Loki and Thor) that would interact with her, even if it was just under orders.

Speaking of which, the maids were none too pleased with Ada's sudden appearance in the bedroom. They emanated that same mixture of fear and disgust that Ada had encountered that morning. She decided to go sit by the fire while they finished their duties so she didn't disturb them further. She made a mental note to ask Thor about the reason for their attitude when she saw him and Jane next. Or perhaps she could ask Loki later…

Ada felt her face flush in response to her afterthought. She hugged her knees to her chest, trying to calm her nerves. It was still early, there was still time to back out…

As the maids left, the room fell silent except for the crackling of the fire. With the curtains closed, Ada felt a bit more free to wander around the room, as there was no longer a danger of gods peeking in. Not that there really was to begin with, as her room was surrounded by a force field, but it was the principle of the thing.

She paced the floor nervously, waiting for time to pass. She opened both of her wardrobes and looked through them meticulously, although she was so preoccupied she couldn't appreciate the beauty of their contents. She sat at the dressing table in front of the mirror and fidgeted with her hair, even though it was already laying just the way she wanted it.

Realizing how absurdly she was acting, Ada groaned in annoyance at herself. She stood up and marched over to the adjoining doors. She had no idea what time it was, if she was maybe too late or too early, or if she was walking into some sort of a trap, but damnit, she was going to knock on that door.

She again used her pinky to pull open her own door and reached out to tap on the one behind it. She froze just before her hand met the wood, but took a deep breath, and knocked three times.

Ada's mind raced as seconds went by with no answer. When the door finally began to open, she thought she might faint (again) from excitement. The feeling reminded her that, yeah, it really WAS thrilling to be in Asgard! And even if things went in the "murder" direction, that would be one hell of a way to go, at least.

So, when the door opened completely and Loki stepped into full view, Ada was smiling with pure pleasure. Whatever expression he had been wearing before he encountered her face was wiped right off, and he looked almost shocked at her joyful manner.

He was so taken aback that Ada was able to slip in a verbal jab before he had the chance to. "Good evening! I hope I'm not overdressed for the occasion."

That brought Loki back to his regular self. He glared daggers at her, but then his usual smirk reemerged. "Oh, and here I was prepared to meet a simple mortal. I was not expecting such a…" he looked her up and down and sneered, "_paragon_ of Asgardian fashion such as yourself. I'm only glad you are no longer wearing that dreadful excuse of a seeress costume." He placed his hands behind his back and turned around sharply so his back was to Ada. Looking over his shoulder, he smiled and arched an eyebrow. "Coming?"

Ada steeled herself and stepped over the threshold between their rooms. She didn't walk straight into a shield, which she saw as an early positive sign. But it was strange; why had they put a shield around her balcony, seemingly MILES off the ground, and not between her room and the one next door?

Hearing her take just one step and stop, Loki turned to see what the delay was. Catching Ada's slightly puzzled expression, he asked sourly, "Is it so overwhelming to be in my chambers? I must have overestimated your Midgardian sensibilities."

"Huh? Oh no, I'm not-" Ada frowned as the insult sunk in. She quickly silenced whatever not-so-clever comeback that threatened to burst forth, and instead asked, "How is there not a shield between our rooms? I thought I was basically in prison!"

"There _is_," Loki grinned, pleased with himself. "Though not a very strong one. Quite easily dealt with. Odin must not think very highly of you." He kept walking deeper into his room.

Ada was torn between being impressed at his exploits and rolling her eyes. She cast one last look at her room through the doorway and followed behind Loki. To her left, a fire roared in a golden corner-mounted fireplace, and the view ahead was what she had spied through the keyhole- the huge bed, the bookshelf. She smiled to herself when she noticed a small platform that stretched the length of the bed, sort of like a step- she was right, Loki couldn't get into bed on his own.

She followed him to the right around a curved corner and down a short, wide hallway with doors at the end of it. As Loki began to push the doors open, Ada froze again. "Ah, wait!" she squeaked quietly. "What about your guards?"

Loki sighed in exasperation at yet another interruption. "Why in the Nine Realms would I have guards _in_ my room?" he said, walking through without further discussion.

"I don't know, I have them in mine…" Ada grumbled, falling back in step behind him.

Loki chuckled. "Well, you are quite the unfortunate captive aren't you?"

After coming through the doors, they turned left, and Ada could immediately see how much bigger his room was. A seating area with pillows and a fountain, somewhat similar to her own, was straight ahead, but both elements were easily twice the size of the ones in her room. Behind them was what could only be described as a dining hall, complete with a long table and a dozen chairs.

Two large statues, each covered in a sheet, stood on either side of the wide hallway they were about to enter. Although she couldn't see the statues' faces, she noticed a carved mjolnir sitting at the feet of one. She wrinkled her nose in amusement. "I thought you and Thor didn't get along…?"

Loki whipped his head around, his eyes flashing green with anger. "I do not need your commentary on every little thing in my room, girl!" he snapped. He watched as Ada's face morphed from amused to slightly frightened, and he smiled darkly. Interestingly, though, behind the fright, there was a spark of indignation. He decided to reward it.

Facing front, he began to walk once again. "The statues became part of my décor only after my imprisonment. My…" he paused almost imperceptibly in both his speech and gait, "…_father_ perhaps intended for them to remind me of my place. Though, I find I prefer them covered."

They were now walking along a shallow rectangular pool that ran the length of the hallway. "Who, Laufey*?" Ada asked with some disbelief. "I didn't know he was on good enough terms with the Aesir to-"

Suddenly Loki was upon her, grasping her arms tightly with his cold hands. He seemed to tower over her, and despite his state of undress, he looked every inch the god that Ada believed him to be. His eyes blazed a mixture of blue and green in the dim light of the hallway. "_What do you know of my parentage?!_" he hissed.

Ada flinched under his grip and stared up into his wild eyes. Eventually she choked out, "I-I-I just know what I've read and what I was told when I was little, that you're a jotun and the son of the frost giants, Loki Laufeyson!" She could feel herself shaking from the inside out, and his hold on her tightened.

Then, just as abruptly as he grabbed her, Loki let her go. Ada stumbled backwards, crossing her arms over her chest to rub the bruises that would surely be appearing soon. She was scared and hurt, both physically and emotionally; her eyes darted about, looking for a plan of escape.

Loki sighed at her reaction and cast his eyes down, somewhat sadly, to the water in the pool. This was not the violent follow up that Ada had been expecting. She peered at him curiously and waited for his next move.

"These… stories that you mention, are they well known by Midgardians?" he asked without looking up.

Ada narrowed her eyes, unsure of where this conversation was going. "Among people of my academic persuasion, yeah. They're the myths of the Norse, and the peoples before them… not many modern people know them now, though, except maybe the Scandinavians."

Loki breathed another, heavier sigh and kept his eyes on the water. "Even the damned Midgardians knew…" he mumbled.

_Now who's sighing away all the air in Asgard_, Ada wanted to say, but held back. "Am I… missing something?" she asked cautiously. "From what I heard from Thor, the myths I know don't seem to quite line up with reality."

Loki's eyes met hers once more, a light green now. He smiled cynically and bent down, scooping up a handful of water from the pool. "Oh, but this one does," he said, as his hand turned blue, causing the water to immediately harden into jagged ice crystals.

Ada was mystified by the change, watching as his hand returned to its normal color; he shook the ice back into the pool. "Then… you call Odin your father? And Thor your brother? I thought that was just a term of endearment when you said it before…"

"Indeed, we were raised as brothers, with Odin as my father and Frigga my mother," he stared into space, allowing himself to reminisce. His expression soon turned gloomy. "I only recently discovered my true heritage, and my status as a mere bargaining chip in Odin's infernal political schemes. " He smirked then. "This revelation rather influenced my… actions in your realm. I have nothing against your race personally, but Midgardians are by far the simplest people in all the Nine Realms, and were therefore quite the tempting target for my rage."

_Ah, he must be feeling better now_, Ada thought to herself, pursing her lips. She resolved to push him for more information. "Thor said something about when you destroyed New York, that you weren't exactly yourself-"

Loki's eyebrows knitted for a moment, a hint of trepidation ghosting across his face, but it was quickly disguised it under another smirk. "My mind was… temporarily marred by the Chitauri's leader and his manipulation of the power of the Tessaract." When he looked up, his eyes were a brilliant blue. He took several steps towards Ada, until he was only inches away from her. She could feel his cool breath on her face. "I still carry the scars. Does it _frighten_ you, girl? Do you worry about what I'll do next?"

Ada took a step back. "It… has crossed my mind, yeah," she said through gritted teeth.

Loki backed away as well, his eyes fading back to green and the mischievous light returning to his face. "And rightly so!" he almost sang. He spun on his heel and continued down the hallway, his bare feet slapping the marble floor.

Ada hesitated, but followed him, against her better judgment. The whole "dying in the name of research" thing was looking less fun by the second.

The hallway seemed to end in a doorway ahead, and Ada could see a fire burning in the room beyond. However, as they approached what she thought were two walls on either side of the door, she realized that they were in fact colossal bookshelves. She gawked at them, mouth hanging open.

Loki, anticipating her reaction, called, "Don't waste your energy out there, those are all books of political drivel and others that are not worthy of my main library. Now, prepare yourself to be dazzled!"

Dazzled was the exact word Ada would have chosen to describe her feeling upon entering the space. It was almost the size of her bedroom next door, and was lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves except for a small gap straight ahead where there was a window. A fire burned in a round pit in the center of the room, and a desk and two chairs were positioned on the other side of it. Loki was standing in front of the fire, arms crossed, looking very pleased with himself.

"It's like _Beauty and the Beast_…" Ada gasped, letting her gaze wander around the room.

"_Pardon_?" Loki choked, frowning.

Ada blushed, realizing how non sequitur that sounded. "Sorry, it's a movie… er, well, a fable, I guess," she tried to put it into more Asgardian terms. "There are books involved."

Loki regarded her suspiciously for a moment, then turned to regard the books as well. "This is my personal collection. It's much more focused than the palace's main library, and I daresay features more rare volumes."

The spines were covered in beautifully rendered runes, which Ada began to read. _A Brief History of Elven Magic, The Annotated Elder Scrolls, Architectural Spells_… wait. Not only could she read the runes, but they seemed to be translating directly into English. She glanced at Loki in surprise, then turned back to the books. "The Alltongue…" she murmured in wonder.

Loki stood next to her, following her path of vision. "You know of it?" he asked, grinning.

"Jane mentioned it before, but this is my first time seeing it in person…" Ada trailed off. She reached out and ran her index finger down the wide spine of _An Encyclopedia of Rune-Based Spells_. Laughing, she looked back at Loki. "I don't know where to start, I'm absolutely overwhelmed!"

Loki's next smile was, surprisingly, quite genuine. "You may return tomorrow night as well, if you wish."

Ada was temporarily taken aback by Loki's apparently sincere offer. She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Loki chuckled at her reaction. "This is not a trick, nor is it a trap, though I know you thought it was both before you came tonight."

Ada withdrew her hand from the books and kept her eyes on Loki, sensing some hidden motivation from the god. "What is it, then? Trying to educate someone of an inferior realm because you feel bad for unleashing an alien army on them?"

"I would not simplify it to that extent, no," Loki looked away and smirked. "My reasons are my own, but know that I mean no harm to you."

Ada stared at him for a moment, deadpan. Loki could deny malevolence all he wanted, but his mythological track record was not exactly spotless. Really though, what else was she going to do for the rest of her imprisonment? Stare at the einherjar?

She smiled at him, playing along for the moment. "So, do you have any good history books I could start with?"

*Yes, in actual Norse mythology, Laufey is Loki's mother, not his father. But for continuity's sake, I'll be sticking with Marvel's daddy Laufey.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note**: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

**Author's note II**: Sorry for the lack of an update last week, Christmas kind of snuck up on me! Hopefully I'll be back to updating once a week now!

"I see you weren't quite successful in your disrobing aims last night," Drifa said, looking down her nose scornfully at Ada.

Ada sat on the edge of her bed, still dressed. When she finally returned to her room the night before, she was far too tired to even make an effort to remove the complex Asgardian outfit. She'd only gotten maybe three hours of sleep before the maid brigade had arrived for the morning's chores. She peered at Drifa blankly through bleary eyes weighed down by heavy bags.

Drifa closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose, annoyed by Ada's lack of response. "It was against my better judgment to leave you last night, and now I see I was correct. It is abundantly obvious that you still require my assistance in matters of your wardrobe. Now, on your feet my lady, and turn around…"

Drifa deftly removed Ada's armor accessories, as well as her pink and green dress. Ada was far too sleepy to feel any sort of immodesty at being undressed in front of the other maids, and shuffled to the bathroom after Drifa put her pajama dress back on. "I'll be waiting," she called after Ada.

Ada stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, slowly beginning to process what a mess she looked. She had avoided the shower up till now, just out of laziness; the controls confounded her, given the fact that they didn't seem to exist. But, she figured she could put it off no longer.

She undressed and stepped into what appeared to be a large shower cubicle with high marble walls. She immediately felt stupid, standing there naked with no idea how to get the thing to work; she couldn't even see a shower head. Maybe this was not a shower after all, and was just some sort of changing room… after all, there was a tub. But then, there were several small bottles in an alcove in one of the walls that looked a lot like cleaning liquids. She grabbed a couple of the bottles and decided to try to take a bath instead.

Ada was about to walk out of the cubicle when, suddenly, water began to fall from the sky. No, not from the sky- from tiny holes in the ceiling above her head. She closed her eyes, grateful that Asgardian domestic technology seemed focused on enabling its users to be as lazy as possible. She let the water, as varied as raindrops but with more pressure, wash over her and recalled the events of the night before.

There were no further incidents after the issue about Loki's parentage, although he got frustrated a couple of times at the "extreme Midgardian impudence" (his words, not hers) of her questions. Ada could uncover no more of his motivations for being so oddly social with her, and she only got a repeated offer for another visit in trying to subtly get the information out of him.

As she washed her hair, she pondered the books Loki lent her: an Asgardian history book, an encyclopedic history of all the Nine Realms, and, at his insistence, what amounted to "Baby's First Book of Spells". Loki had cast what he called a "selective invisibility" spell on all three volumes- this apparently prevented the books from being visible to people who were not Ada or Loki. The idea seemed too much even for Asgardian standards of magic-technology though, so she stashed them under her bed just in case. She hoped the maids didn't clean under there.

Despite the hours they spent together, Ada had not yet gotten around to asking Loki about the Asgardian use of Proto Norse. She felt pretty guilty about it, really. She could be sure that Jane was quizzing every Asgardian in sight about their technological advancements, and here she was, completely preoccupied with the acquisition of books.

Ada felt refreshed but slightly depressed when she emerged from the shower. She dried herself with an oversized, incredibly fluffy towel, and then wrapped it around her body. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, at the dark circles under her eyes, and hung her head, sighing. She wasn't entirely sure where this general sense of malaise came from, but it sure was pervasive.

She emerged from the bathroom in her underdress to find that all the maids except Drifa had gone. She was waiting for Ada by the wardrobes and, as usual, wore an expression that could better be described as a lack of one. "Thanks for waiting," Ada said, making her way over to the armor wardrobe.

Drifa stared at her for a moment but did not respond. She instead opened the doors of both wardrobes and asked, "What would you like to wear today, my lady?"

Ada stifled a yawn as she examined the many options. "I uh… I guess…" she hesitated as she ran her hand through the row of beautiful dresses. Her eyes were feeling heavy again. "What do you suggest?"

Drifa looked at her suspiciously out of the corner of her eye and turned back to the open wardrobe. "At this time of year, a purple would be suitable for-" She was interrupted by another yawn from Ada. She stepped back and faced her, frowning. "My lady, do you suffer from an ailment? I have been warned about the delicate temperament of Midgardians, and you have not seemed well today. Do you require a healer?"

Ada was surprised by the question, and what appeared to be concern from Drifa. "N-no, I'm fine, sorry," she blushed and turned away. "I just stayed up too late last night, uh, writing up some stuff…" she trailed off. She recognized how familiar that excuse sounded and realized that she hadn't felt this tired since graduate school. She smiled slightly.

The smile did not escape Drifa's notice, and her knitted eyebrows relaxed. "Do tell me if you begin to feel unwell. I do not particularly want to come into your room some morning to find a corpse."

Ada's smile widened at Drifa's mixture of worry and annoyance. "Thanks, I'd hate for you to be inconvenienced in such a way," she said playfully.

Drifa nodded, her face stern. "I'm glad you understand, my lady," she said without a hint of amusement in her voice.

Ada giggled quietly. "So, purple you say? Would a bronze breastplate go well with that?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lunch arrived in much the same fashion as it had the day before; from her room, Ada heard the front door open and close, and when she emerged, a mass of food was waiting.

After she was done eating, she stared thoughtfully into her half-full cup of mead. She wondered if it was rude to not finish it. _Oh well_, she thought, _I didn't drink all of it at dinner, and I didn't seem to cause any inter-planetary crisis…_

Although Ada was comfortable referring to Asgard as another planet, she still thought of Thor, Odin, Loki, and everyone else as mythological figures, an identity set apart from the extraterrestrials they obviously were. The image of Loki's hand, jotun blue, flashed through her mind; that was the sort of alien she had always imagined, some strangely-colored thing that was vaguely humanoid, not the community of universally attractive people that seemed to inhabit the palace.

Almost as if on cue, the front doors creaked open, and Thor's glorious form stepped in, followed by Jane. "Good morrow, Aðalrun!" he crowed, obviously in a good mood. The einherjar closed the doors behind them. He turned to them in response to the sound of the doors being shut and held up his hand. "That will not be necessary, I will be leaving momentarily." As the einherjar reopened the doors, he faced Ada again. She stood as Jane walked over to her. "Jane, I shall not be long. Have fun!" Thor said, his cape swooshing dramatically as he walked out.

Ada stared after him until the einherjar again closed the doors, then looked at Jane. "Did you just get dropped off for a playdate?" she asked, her speech broken by giggles.

Jane snorted. "Yeah, I think that just happened."

"C'mon, let's go into the other room. It freaks me out talking in front of these guys," Ada said, nodding at the einherjar. She walked towards her bedroom door and ushered Jane through, closing it behind them.

"Ah, is that my rune chart?" Jane practically ran to the table it was sitting on and picked it up. As she examined it and the decorative doodles adorning it, she laughed and glanced at Ada. "Get a bit bored, did we?"

Ada joined her next to the table, smiling wryly. "Yeah, you could say that. The guards aren't really ones for conversation." She pulled out a chair and plopped down, yawning. She was feeling pretty tired again.

Jane swung a chair around next to her and sat as well. She placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands, staring at Ada. "You look like crap," she finally said.

"Gee, thanks," Ada grumbled. "Stayed up too late last night."

"Not on my account, I hope! I really didn't need all the art and calligraphy…" Jane looked slightly worried.

Ada smiled and shook her head. "No, I was-" she stopped dead. She hadn't thought of an ACTUAL excuse for her tiredness, and she wasn't sure how Jane would react to her socializing with a noted criminal. "Busy?" she said weakly.

Jane narrowed her eyes suspiciously, keen to get in on any secrets. "Busy? But you just said you were bored."

"I know, I just…" Ada sighed. "I can't really… explain right now, but I was… busy." _That is a terrible excuse_, she thought, _She's never gonna buy that…_

Jane looked at her in silence for a moment, then said cheerfully, "Okay, well, I've got loads of news about the whole Ragnarok thing!"

Ada smiled, relieved at the lack of questions. "Has Heimdall seen Yggdrasil yet?"

Jane pulled a face and looked down. "No, not that I've heard, and it's causing quite a bit of concern. Odin called some sort of tribunal about the fire jotuns, which is why Thor's so happy," she rolled her eyes. "I'm literally not allowed to leave our room without him, so I asked if I could stay with you while he's there. It's really frustrating having a chaperone, I feel like I'm in middle school again." Jane frowned.

"Well I feel like a grounded child," Ada said sullenly, resting her cheek on one hand. "Please, tell me more news of the outside world."

Jane grinned, obviously excited to relay her information to Ada. "Last night, Odin called Thor to his quarters, and Thor brought me along, which Odin was… unhappy about…" she winced. "But! He brought out this ENORMOUS book, written all in gold, and showed us the Ragnarok prophecy! You would have loved it!"

Indeed, Ada was mentally salivating at the idea. "Did he tell you what it said?" she asked breathlessly.

Jane rubbed her chin, recalling what she had seen. "Not in detail, I think he kind of summarized. Something about roosters and Heimdall blowing a horn to warn of the invasion of fire jotuns." She paused to further collect her thoughts. "Somehow Odin gets eaten by a wolf, I didn't quite get that. But, more importantly, the prophecy makes no mention of any matters of the heart, as Thor told Gerðr."

"Well I could've told you that much," Ada remarked smartly. She quickly regretted her words. Last time she tried to show off her mythological knowledge to Jane, she ended up accusing Thor of adultery. "That is… uh, that pretty much lines up with what I know."

Jane nodded in acknowledgement. "Thor and Odin figure that Gerðr was just lying about any knowledge of the prophecy to kidnap me for ransom or something. But really, the way Odin explained it, the whole thing seems pretty vague, and there's no reference to tree abduction. In all honesty, I don't put too much stock in it… I don't care how technologically advanced Asgard is, they can't tell the future."

"Weirdly enough, in the myths, a Midgardian volva was the one who gave Odin the prophecy," Ada said offhandedly. "There's a lot of future-telling throughout Norse mythology, and it always ends up being accurate one way or another. But, as we've seen, real life Asgard seems to be different in some key ways from what I'm familiar with."

"Well, Thor and Odin are taking it pretty seriously, regardless of how much truth there is in it," Jane sighed. "It sounds a lot like they want to go to war."

The girls sat in silence for a moment in reaction to the gravity of the statement. Ada bit her lip and finally asked, "Has Thor mentioned what that might mean for stranded Midgardians?"

Jane's shoulders slumped. "Not expressly, but from the way he talks about how Heimdall hasn't found the tree yet, and the fact that there seems to be an inter-planetary war brewing, I don't think we'll be heading home anytime soon."

"Huh…" Ada stared at the table, unsure of what else to say. She was quite conflicted; although she had no family that would take notice of her absence, she was so close to earning her doctorate that she could taste it. She wondered if an unscheduled and unexplained disappearance would put that in jeopardy. But, then again, "anytime soon" for an Asgardian might be centuries- being disqualified for her doctorate would be a moot point if she was dead by the time everything was resolved, whether from the coming of Ragnarok or old age.

"Yeah," Jane said, leaning her face back on her hands. "Looks like I'll have quite a bit of time to learn the runic alphabet and hit the books."

Ada reflexively stuck out her tongue in jealousy. "And what am I supposed to do? Take up knitting?" It immediately occurred to her, though, that she actually had quite a lot to do: her neighbor was similarly confined and terribly interesting, and apparently not averse to regular visits.

Jane chuckled. "You could always make friends with your guards!"

Ada looked away, her face sour, but her mind racing. "Nah, I think I'll take up knitting."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note**: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

Thor was in a similarly bouncy mood when he returned to retrieve Jane from Ada's room. They left with a promise to visit again the next day, but Thor didn't drop any hints about any upcoming military campaigns.

The moment the doors shut, Ada was on her way to an afternoon nap, once again keeping her armor and clothes on. She ran through potential questions for Loki in her mind until she drifted off.

When she awoke, she could immediately feel the good the nap did for her. She hopped out of bed and felt around under it for one of her books, pulling out the first one her hand came to rest on. It was the book of easy spells, aptly titled _Simple Magic for the Young_.

She thought about stashing it back under the bed and retrieving one of the other two more interesting books, but, out of curiosity, she quickly flipped through the thin volume. It was written in large, bold runes, obviously for young Asgardian readers, and accompanied by stiff illustrations of people making certain motions to go along with the spells. Ada smiled, amused by how the format of children's books was apparently (literally) universal.

She was particularly entranced by something called "the star spell" which, according to the image next to the instructions, created a small constellation in the hand of the caster. She absentmindedly made the hand motion indicated by the picture, and pondered if the magic words (called an "activation phrase" in the text) should be uttered in English or Proto Norse. Yet another thing to ask Loki. She should really start writing all this stuff down.

Ada went back under the bed and dug out the other books, lugging them to the table and dropping them with a thump. She froze, instantly regretting her action and praying the einherjar didn't come rushing in at the distinctive sound of book meeting wood. When nothing happened after about a minute, she settled in to study.

Before she knew it, she had taken about five pages of notes from the history of the Nine Realms, paying specific attention to the Asgardian account of the history of Midgard. Interestingly, the book was very detailed about the early history of humanity, but seemed to thin out around what Ada estimated to be the 12th century. She based her estimate on mentions of the Midgardians becoming "lax in their worshipful practices" which she assumed correlated with the rise of Christianity. Apparently, the Asgardians decided to be less involved on Midgard after that, which Ada speculated contributed to the further decline in popularity of Norse paganism.

This was world-altering stuff; contained within this single book was the reason for the period of warmth before the Little Ice Age (a jotun attack on Midgard was put down by an Asgardian army), an explanation of several notable comet sightings (the loss of bits of armor or supplies being carried by soldiers when traveling via bifrost), and the origin of mead (apparently the god Kvasir and two dwarven brothers invented it, contrary to the rather violent Norse myth featuring the same individuals). If this information were to make it back to earth, large chunks of history books would have to be entirely rewritten, and new light would be shed on many other events from the past.

Ada stared at the book for a while, not really seeing it. Her sense of malaise from earlier in the morning slowly crept back in, and was soon at the forefront of her thoughts. When and if she and Jane returned to earth, how would they and their new information be received? Would they be welcomed as reformers, or denounced as crazy? Once again, she felt incredibly overwhelmed and out of her depth, and tried to push the "what ifs" from her mind.

She decided to take a break from studying and stuffed her notes in between the pages of her book. After stashing it and the other volume back under the bed, she paced the room slowly, trying to think of something to occupy her worried mind.

She decided to organize her Asgardian clothing by color, and made quick work of it. She was satisfied by the orderly rainbow of dresses that now greeted her when she opened her wardrobe door, but still needed something to do. She wandered into her living room and strolled along the bookshelves… well, not bookshelves anymore, due to their lack of books. She picked up and examined several knickknacks from the shelves, smiling at the bust of Frigga.

Ada strolled back into her bedroom and opened her French doors. She pulled one of the wooden chairs from her table onto the balcony and sat down, kicking her feet up on the railing. It was only after her bare toe contacted the invisible shield that she remembered it was there, and moved her chair back accordingly.

She looked to her right out of the corner of her eye, just in case Loki had seen her make a fool of herself yet again, but there was no sign of him on his neighboring balcony. Ada sighed out of either relief or disappointment; she wasn't sure which. She turned her gaze to the hundreds of glittering buildings that made up the city as the sun sank at a snail's pace.

Eventually, Ada heard dinner arrive, and pulled her chair back inside, casting one more furtive glance at Loki's balcony.

She made a point of eating dinner as slowly as possible, and only just finished as Drifa and the maids arrived to do their chores before bedtime. Ada was thankful for the mental stimulation, even if it was extremely difficult to convince Drifa to let her have another go at solo undressing. Ultimately, she conceded, but only on the terms that she at least be allowed to remove Ada's breastplate.

As the maids made their exodus from her room, Ada stretched out on the couch in front of her fireplace. _Still so much time to kill_… she thought, fidgeting with the pillows. As she stared into the dancing fire, it occurred to her that it had not been stoked once since she had been in residence, although the fireplace appeared to contain real wood. It even crackled and shifted, unlike the faux wood in the gas fireplaces she was used to. She glared at it, suddenly and inexplicably resentful of the fact that Asgardians used magic for damn near everything.

Ada flopped over to lie on her back. She scowled at the ceiling, which she had never taken particular notice of before; it was a series of complex circular shapes, intertwined to look almost like cogs in some sort of a strange and extremely beautiful machine. She let her eyes drift through the patterns, becoming lost in them, her tense feelings melting away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ada woke with a start and coughed, somewhat confused. She coughed again and looked around; she must have snored herself awake.

Her stomach dropped as she realized that she had fallen asleep waiting to visit Loki. As usual, she had no way of gauging how long she had been asleep, and hoped against hope that it wasn't some horrible hour of the morning. Asgard really needed some clocks.

Ada fumbled her way out of the deep pillows of the couch and scooted on her bare feet to the connecting door, throwing it open and taking a small step into the narrow space between the rooms. She knocked three times on Loki's door, not allowing herself time to be nervous.

Loki took longer to answer the knocks than he had the night before, and, from his rather understated mischievous expression, looked as if he had perhaps been asleep as well. "Hm, I almost thought I had scared you away," he said in his characteristically silky voice, controlling his tone to not reflect any surprise at her presence. "By the way, I love what you've done with your hair," he added flippantly, turning his back to Ada and walking into his room without so much as inviting her in.

Ada instinctively felt her head with her hand, finding that the entire right side of her hair had been molded into several disorganized flips and spikes. She blushed and did what she could to smooth them down without retreating back to her room to check the mirror. _Way to go_, she thought, _visit the god with bedhead_… She nervously followed Loki into his room.

Loki was already nearly at his bedroom door, and Ada had to walk quickly to catch up. She could only assume they were returning to his library, as he had not said anything since his quip about her hair. He opened his door with somewhat of a flourish and strode into the next room. However, instead of turning left for the library, Loki continued straight ahead to his fountain-centered round couch. He alighted on the edge of it before relaxing into the pillows almost seductively, his legs sprawled open in a pose of dominance. He casually threw one arm over the back of the couch, and beckoned to Ada with his other hand.

Ada's mind had come to a complete stop. If she were a cartoon character, she was sure steam would be rising from her ears. As Loki continued to wave her over, seemingly in slow motion, she remembered to breathe, and very ungracefully stumbled towards the couch. Her face was hot, prickling with blush; she sat just about as far away from him as she possibly could, perching on the extreme edge of the couch. She thought uneasily about Loki's mythological reputation for using his charm to get what he wanted.

Loki raised an eyebrow at her odd demeanor, but shrugged almost imperceptibly after a moment and closed his eyes. "Tell me about yourself, Aðalrun," he purred sleepily.

Ada opened and closed her mouth several times, at a total loss for words. This was _not_ how she pictured the night going… however this night was going. She was pretty confused at the moment. "Uh, me? Are you sure?" she finally managed to get out. "B-but I'm not that interesting…"

Loki opened one eye and looked at her. "Of that I am fairly certain," he said, a shade of annoyance coloring his words. "But, I am bored. Shall we see if your story is more fascinating than waiting for hours to receive a guest for a pre-arranged meeting?"

Ada simultaneously glared and blushed. "You never exactly said _when_ to knock on your door, just that it should be late at night. And how the hell do you tell what time it is here, anyway?!" she spat, crossing her arms. She certainly felt guilty about keeping Loki waiting, but she was sure he would verbally exploit any admission of weakness on her part.

Loki made a broad gesture with his free hand. "Celestial dials by the windows. Hadn't you noticed them? I think them hard to miss, though I'm sure my vision is more discerning than yours."

With that last dig, Ada had completely recovered her wits from the suggestiveness of his manner of sitting. She had no idea how to reply; she felt like she'd been over every corner of her room a thousand times in her boredom, and she couldn't recall anything remotely clock-like. She scowled at the fountain burbling peacefully, quietly seething, and kept Loki's relaxed form in her peripheral vision.

"So?" Loki broke the silence, not opening his eyes. "Regale me with the story of your short Midgardian life."

Ada bit back another irritated response and tried to think of where to start. She'd never really spoken about herself in any depth to anyone before… it was kind of a broad thing to ask someone about, really. "Well, uh… I was born in Minnesota… that's a state in a country called the United States of America, it's up north…" she began, only to be cut short by Loki.

"I'm not so bored that I need to know specific place names," he waved dismissively. "Tell me your _story_."

Ada was once again at a loss. It seemed Loki expected some sort of tale, a bedtime story almost. _Okay_, she thought, _I'm a linguist with a mythology obsession, I can weave words with the best of them_. She began again.

"Generations ago, in the land the Vikings once called their home, a baby boy was born to an unwed mother. Her village was ashamed of the disgrace she brought to her community and cast her out into the unforgiving winter. She crossed the ocean in order to create a better life for herself and her son, and found employment as a fish maid by the shores of a vast, cold lake. Her son grew up speaking not only the language of his native land, but that of his new home as well; when he entered school, he found that he had quite a talent for it. He became a translator for the government, and met and married a politician's daughter. Sent away to war, he returned home to find his mother had died from a widespread illness, and his wife was sick with the same infection. He never left her bedside, and read her novels every day; her doctors said his mere presence was what cured her.

Soon, they had a child of their own- a daughter, who possessed the same golden tongue as her father. She was known as the kindest woman in town, and when her father entertained foreign dignitaries they were always impressed by her intelligence. It was no surprise when she married one of those dignitaries, a handsome man from her grandmother's country.

From their union came my father, who was more talented in the language of machines than of men. He was an engineer that created pathways for mechanical communication, as was my mother. They met at work, and I was born a year after they were married. My grandmother named me Aðalrun, after the sacred writing of our ancestors.

I do not remember my mother; she passed before I could even walk. My father and my grandmother raised me together. They told me the old myths in English and Norwegian, like their parents before them, yet only English took root with me. I did not discover a talent for languages when I grew, and the stories of my multi-lingual family only served to make me jealous. While I eventually learned Norwegian and Old Norse, it was a struggle for me; all I could do well was dismantle languages into their component parts, not create anything with them. Still, words carry a special magic for me, and what I love more than anything is uncovering that magic."

Ada smiled, feeling all warm and fuzzy. She turned to Loki for his reaction.

He was asleep.

She glared at his relaxed form. Her only satisfaction came from the fact that, instead of reflecting the peace of sleep, Loki's face reflected a subtle grumpiness. He almost looked like he was pouting.

_Well, so much for asking questions_… she thought. She shifted to get up, and wondered if she should leave a note of apology or something for when he woke up. _Man, I completely ruined this opportunity!_

Ada looked at the sleeping figure, almost sick with guilt, the feeling magnified by her already bad mood and the fact that she was tired. She could feel the urge to cry rising, which only added to her frustration; she managed to will the tears away, and took a deep breath to calm down.

She stood up properly, and brushed the wrinkles out of her long skirt. The marble floor of Loki's room was freezing on her bare feet, and she curled her toes in discomfort. Deciding that leaving a note would indeed be the best course of action, she turned to fetch her pen and paper from her own room. However, as she took a step, she felt her dress catch on something, causing her to stumble and nearly fall into the fountain. She spun and caught herself on its rim, and ungracefully sat down.

In her recovery, she had come to face Loki again, and was surprised to see him awake and smirking at her… with his foot on her skirt. She silently cursed whatever Asgardian fashion designer decided that trains on gowns were the "in" thing.

"Leaving so soon?" he purred, standing, but keeping Ada's skirt pinned down with his foot. "But we were having such a lovely time!"

"S-sorry," Ada stammered, halfheartedly tugging on her skirt to free it from Loki's weight. "I thought you were asleep and… I was gonna leave a note but…" She felt tears besiege her eyes once again, and she fought to keep them at bay. _Ugh, this is so unlike me, I need to get more sleep…_

A hint of worry crossed Loki's normally well-controlled face. He took a step sideways, releasing Ada's skirt. "Are you ill?" he asked quietly, in a tone that Ada had not heard him use before.

She couldn't help but laugh. "You know, that's the second time an Asgardian has asked me that today! We earthlings are not as fragile as you think!"

Loki arched an eyebrow at her response, his eyes full of contempt. "Then what in the Nine Realms is wrong with you? So excitable one night, dismal the next?" His expression softened slightly. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, studying her. "Is it your short life that causes such violent shifts in your moods?"

Ada blushed under his scrutiny, suddenly fully understanding Heimdall's reaction to how she treated him. But really, it was sound logic on Loki's part; if the history books were anything to go by, Asgardians had never had any long-term interactions with humans, so he must be as in the dark about their behavior patterns as Ada was about his.

She shrugged and crossed her arms. "Could be. But I'm also under kind of an extraordinary set of circumstances here. You'd need a larger sample size if you're going to make those kinds of hypotheses."

Loki blinked several times and looked away, grinning. "That could be arranged…" he said, almost to himself.

Ada's eyes grew wide. She waved her hands in front of her frantically. "No no no, I didn't mean that LITERALLY, it was more of an observation! Please don't abduct anybody!"

Now it was Loki's turn to laugh. "Having one conversational Midgardian nearly finds the limits of my tolerance; I doubt I would have the patience to deal with a whole herd of them."

Ada giggled nervously. She couldn't tell if he was joking… or joking about joking. Such was the peril of interacting with the god of mischief.

"Shall we retire to the library?" he asked, wearing his most charming smile. To Ada's surprise, he offered his hand.

She looked at it like it was a bear trap. Smiling apprehensively, she made a move to stand up on her own.

Before Ada knew what was happening, Loki had knelt down and taken her hand in his faintly chilled one. "Manners," he murmured, catching her eye before rising again. He guided her up with grace and unexpected gentleness.

She wished she could control her blushing like she could her tears; at this rate, the blood flow to her internal organs would be cut off in favor of coloring her face.

This was exactly the reaction Loki had been aiming for. His eyes twinkled and he grinned, releasing her hand. He took several elegant steps backward around the fountain, maintaining eye contact. He then placed his hands behind his back and spun to face the library, casting a glance over his shoulder at Ada in a silent request to follow.

And follow Ada did- though she wasn't completely sure if her renewed excitement was due to the promise of books or something else entirely.

P.S: Wowwwww I can't believe this is the 10th chapter! When I came up with the story, I thought it would be just a simple thing, but here we are at chapter 10, and I think I'm only about halfway done. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with it this far! Yay!


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note**: the letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the "th" in the word "them"

On the short walk to Loki's library, Ada tried to gather her composure. For the first time, she was (extremely) conscious of Loki as something other than a legendary god-alien-humanoid… entity; she had been partly blinded to his physical attractiveness by his initial attitude, and after that by her academic desire to gather information from him. There was also the fact that he was a murdering megalomaniac… but that wasn't _entirely_ his fault, right?

Right?

Ada was too well-versed in mythology to accept that Loki's exploits in New York were purely the fault of the Tessaract (whatever THAT was) and the Chitauri. Even he had said that his actions were influenced by the revelation of his true parentage. Despite his tendency to cause chaos, the Loki of mythology always had a reason for the things he did- even if that reason was purely self-serving; real-life Loki was shaping up similarly, even if Ada couldn't quite see his motivations yet. She would just have to be careful to keep her wits about her.

Speaking of which… Loki, who had already claimed a seat at the wooden table in the center of the library, was staring at her questioningly from behind steepled fingers. Ada had apparently zoned out for some period of time, lost in thought. She laughed stiffly and sat in the seat across from him.

Loki apparently thought her odd reaction was due to the lingering effect of his charm offensive, and grinned wolfishly. "Still overwhelmed, pet?"

"_Pet?!_" Ada snorted. "That's an interesting term of endearment from you… do Asgardians even keep pets?"

The mischievous spark in Loki's eyes went out at her response. "It is not an uncommon practice on Asgard to keep a dog or a cat," he said, slightly exasperated. "Though some of the more foolhardy Aesir are known to keep bilgesnipes and even dragons."

"That is _fascinating_," Ada said earnestly. Her eyes seemed to have acquired the twinkle that had left Loki's, though in a less malevolent way. "Have you or Thor ever had a pet?"

"Ah, is this the Midgardian game called "Twenty Questions?"" Loki asked, recognition showing on his face. "My broth-…. _Thor_ described this game when last he paid me a visit. He says that he and his mortal play it often."

"_Jane_", Ada corrected. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't think of herself as ANYONE'S mortal."

"Ah yes, she is called Jane," Loki said, touching his cheek gently with his fingertips. He frowned slightly, obviously annoyed. "It would be easy to forget such a dull name if it weren't for the fact she seems to be fond of striking higher beings as some sort of a greeting."

Ada tried to repress a laugh, but was largely unsuccessful. "Are you still mad about that? It was spur of the moment, she was just-"

"Acting on instinct, as animals do," Loki finished sourly. "An inexcusable action, but one that can be expected of a member of such an inferior race. However, the day after our return to Asgard, she saw fit to strike me _again_ when she and Thor called on me in my chambers."

Ada's eyes were almost watering from trying to not melt into laughter. She knew that he probably deserved it, either for insulting humanity or just in general. Ada could always count on Jane to overcome her scientific level-headedness in times of need.

Still, she could see that Loki was sore about that subject, and decided to move on instead of provoking him. "Do you get many visitors, then?" she asked a little too cheerfully, trying to placate Loki's increasingly irritated mood.

Loki was only too happy to follow her lead away from the subject of Jane. "Only Thor and, on occasion, my mother. That is, of course, aside from the maids every morning and evening." He paused and smirked. "Though I doubt I would retain my maid service should they catch wind of my jotun side. The average Asgardian is rather… small minded, you could say. Easily frightened, despite their superiority to other residents of the Nine Realms. I'm sure whoever has the dubious pleasure of tidying your quarters is less than thrilled about their appointment."

"Yeah, you really hit the nail on the head there," Ada grumbled, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. "Why are they so touchy?"

"I do believe it's my turn to ask a question," Loki purred, leaning back as well. Ada searched herself but found she didn't have the patience to explain the rules of twenty questions to a god; she let him continue. "Is it true that there is a high rate of cannibalism among Midgardians?"

Ada's eyes grew wide. "Not that I'm aware of!" she spluttered. "Where did you even get that idea?!"

Loki appeared to ponder her response and nodded to himself. "We have stories about other realms, just as Midgard as stories of Asgard. It appears our stories are no more accurate than yours."

_What the hell kind of stories do you have about us?! No wonder my maids are scared…_ is what Ada WANTED to say, but she caught herself. Can't go wasting questions…

"Are Midgardian women all trained as warriors? On my last… _visit_ to your realm, I couldn't help but notice the large majority of them choose to forgo dresses in favor of slacks," Loki asked before Ada had time to formulate another question.

"What? No, they- hey, it's my turn!" Ada responded indignantly.

"No it isn't, as you previously asked where I got my information on Midgardian cannibalism," Loki said, his face smug. "Does that mean I have won the game?"

Ada sighed. "It's not really a winning kind of game…"

"What is a game's purpose if not to be won?" Loki asked, arching an eyebrow in annoyed confusion.

Ada stared at the table, considering the question for a moment. "That's… pretty philosophical. But THIS game in particular is more of an ice-breaker," she looked up and smiled a little at Loki's further befuddlement at the mention of the term. "It's a way for two people to get to know each other better."

"Ah," Loki seemed to grasp her meaning. "When Asgardians want to get to know each other better, it usually involves a fair amount of mead," he said disdainfully. "I think this is one Midgardian custom that I prefer."

Ada chuckled. "We have that practice too, but I agree, this way is more interesting. And you tend to be able to remember it in the morning."

Loki hummed and closed his eyes. "You were saying about the Midgardian women…"

"No, we're not all trained as warriors," Ada rolled her eyes. "The pants are a stylistic choice. Many women do wear skirts and dresses though. Do-" _Oh wait, try not to phrase it as a question…_ "Er, unlike on Asgard, where clothing seems to be a mark of occupation or social standing… ?"

Loki grinned, recognizing her verbal maneuvering. "Indeed," he confirmed. "Very few Asgardian women wear slacks, as we have very few female warriors. This does not mean that our women are physically weak, however; I have heard that my mother has bested Odin in hand to hand combat more than once."

"Heh," Ada smiled. "So…" she leaned forward and drummed her fingers on the table, trying to think of another question. _Might as well go for the big one…_ "The Alltongue. How does that work?"

Loki's eyes popped open and he gave a hearty laugh. "My, that is an awfully broad question!" He continued to chuckle as he sat up straight, steepling his fingers once again. "Tell me, girl, how well versed are you with magic?"

"Not," Ada answered truthfully. "I picked up the book you lent me, but I can't say I _learned_ anything from it." She paused, remembering something else. "Oh, but I know Runic magic! Well, I know OF it, anyway, just from my study of Norse linguistics."

"Well, prepare yourself for a rather lengthy explanation," Loki said, somehow managing to make a boring statement sound slightly seductive. "Though not as long as your damned family history," he added sarcastically.

Ada's lips formed a thin, irritated line. "If you want a better bedtime story, call a bard or something."

Loki smiled insincerely. "Sound advice!" He stood and selected a particularly large and ragged book from a high shelf. Its pages were tattered and stuffed with bookmarks of varying sizes and materials; this was a well-loved tome. Loki placed it spine-down on the table in front of Ada, and let it flop open to the page most natural to it. Ada stared at the yellowed pages in wonder.

Loki ran his finger along a line of runes below a grid-like illustration. "This is a visualization of how our magic works. Essentially, it is the same as weaving- the tighter the "threads" are together, the less permeable the "fabric" is. Patterns can be woven into the fabric as well, creating more complex spells- you saw one of those patterns when you knocked your head into the shield outside your room.

There are many ways to craft this fabric, one of which is the Runic method. In fact, the technique used to construct the Alltongue is Runic magic, and it is some of the strongest in the Nine Realms. Millennia ago, Odin's father Bor wove the Alltongue with help from the most powerful sorcerers in Asgard in order to aid in diplomacy between the realms. It is a masterpiece of magic; it blankets the words of speakers without them even realizing a spell is in effect. This blanket effectively translates their words into the native tongue or tongues of the listener or listeners. The same applies to the written Alltongue- the ink in which our books are written is enchanted with the spell.

Its only flaw- and it is indeed a small one-is that the spell requires a desire to communicate in order to function. So, for example, when Thor and I argued in front of you and Jane on Midgard, the Alltongue read the subconscious intent of our words and elected not to activate. This is due to the fact that we meant our words only for each other; my taunts were not meant to make an example of Thor to you, only to goad him into certain actions. Therefore, you heard our speech as our mother tongue."

Ada could've died happy in that moment. She realized that her eyes were dry from not blinking during Loki's exposition, and she slowly fluttered them shut. Her head was buzzing with information trying to line itself up into intelligible thoughts and theories; she chewed her lip in concentration.

Simultaneously, Ada opened her eyes and her mouth. "So that applies to any number of listeners, of any number of first languages? Is the spell cast over all residents of Asgard, or is it just inherently IN Asgard? Oh, but if that were the case, then Jane and I wouldn't have been able to understand you on earth… But then how did we understand the fire jotun, if she's not from Asgard? Is the spell cast selectively on only some of the realms? And what IS your first language? Did you really bring runes to earth, and if so, did you also bring Proto Norse? ARGH I need pen and paper, I'll be right back!"

She dashed out of the library and through Loki's quarters, leaving him staring after her with a bemused look on his face. She skidded to a stop in front of the table in her bedroom, hurriedly gathered up her writing supplies, and flew through the joining doors. When she arrived back in the library, she was out of breath, and Loki had not moved an inch. She was glad; she half thought she had dreamed the whole thing.

"Welcome back," he chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint, but it _is_ my turn to ask the question."

"I HEREBY FORFEIT TWENTY QUESTIONS, THE WINNER IS LOKI," Ada all but shouted.

"I thought you said there was no-"

"I know, _I know_, but this is…" Ada grappled for words. When she couldn't find any, she settled for her best attempt at puppy dog eyes. "_Please_, Loki? Don't make me beg…" she said tragically. A thought occurred to her and her expression became more contemplative. "But I _could_ beg, you'd probably prefer that…" she said, mostly to herself.

Loki burst into peals of hearty laughter. "Oh… oh my…" he choked between laughs. "You Midgardians absolutely slay me! So self-serving!" He wiped a tear from his eye.

Ada sat stone still, her quill hovering above the paper expectantly. There were any number of rude ways she could respond to his insults, but she would happily take one for the team if it meant getting data on what was probably the greatest linguistic breakthrough in history. She coached her face into a receptive and cheerful expression.

Loki's laughter slowly faded into a series of gentle chuckles. He sighed happily. "I knew I was right to bring you to Asgard! You're even more entertaining than I counted on."

Ada's eye twitched. _Is he going to pony up the information, or should I push him more? Maybe I will have to beg..._

Loki leaned back into his chair and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "You needn't beg, Aðalrun. I shall volunteer whatever information you wish willingly. However, there is one thing I require in return…" He stood and walked languidly over to Ada's chair. He draped an arm over it and leaned in so his face was almost touching hers. With a glimmer in his eye, he whispered, "A kiss."

Ada shrunk into the chair, as far away from him as she could go without actually slipping under the table. Her head felt like it was about to explode; she could feel the blush spread across her cheeks and onto her ears. Where was all this coming from?! Just last night, Loki had been almost violent to her, and now he was flirting harder than a half-drunk college frat boy. It wasn't that a large part of Ada didn't WANT to kiss him, it was just that the whole situation seemed really… off. Still, there had been worse things done in the name of science…

Loki watched her expectantly- his expression was unreadable. "I… I… I…" Ada stammered, squeezing her eyes shut to cement her decision. When she opened them again, there was no sign of Loki next to her. He had somehow returned to his seat in the short moment that her eyes were closed. She pulled herself back up in her chair self-consciously, taking care to avoid eye contact with him.

When he saw that she had returned to her wits, he narrowed his eyes and smirked knowingly. "It seems even mortals have limits to how far they will go to get what they want," he observed. "Do not fret, I had no intention of kissing you this evening… though, if you wish to obtain the information you seek, I am serious about getting something in return," he lowered his voice, "though I am still uncertain as to what I will ask for."

Ada's face was now red for a different reason. She stood up so quickly her chair almost toppled over, and balled her hands into fists on the table. "Oh my GOD, what are you, twelve?! Why are you yanking me around like this?!" she said, trying to keep her voice down- she didn't do a very good job. "Believe it or not, I don't simply exist to be your plaything! Insult humanity all you want, fair enough, a lot of them are jerks, but I'm trying to do some legitimate academic research on something that could very probably change the world… if I live long enough to go home! If you don't feel like answering my questions, _fine_, but don't get my hopes up about it!"

Ada gathered up her paper and quill messily. Her breathing was ragged. "Good _evening_, Loki. I'll return your books tomorrow night, but don't expect any more visits. I can work myself into a psychological fervor just fine on my own, thanks!"

She turned to leave, but froze at the unmistakable sound of armor clattering- einherjar were coming around the corner. Before Ada even had a chance to drop her writing supplies, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her from behind. She was held tightly, her back flat against Loki's chest. "Don't move," he hissed into her ear.

Two einherjar came into view milliseconds later- Ada looked at them with large, fearful eyes. But strangely, they didn't look back. "Are you well, my lord? We heard shouting, and-"

"Of _course_ I am well, you blithering idiots!" Loki snapped. "How could any ill befall me when I am locked up like a common criminal?!"

"B-but the shouting-"

"_Clearly_ I was simply reading a passage from one of my books aloud! I find it easier to grasp the meaning that way, but as I have been _interrupted_, I shall have to begin again!" Loki growled, voice full of venom.

"Y-yes my lord, our sincerest apologies!" The einherjar almost tripped over each other exiting the library.

Loki didn't release Ada until they heard the doors to his quarters shut. When he did, he stumbled backwards, gasping for breath; he steadied himself on Ada's chair.

"W-what just… how…?" Ada spluttered, whirling to face a rather pallid and clammy god.

As Loki caught his breath, he began to laugh harshly. "Wonderful, wonderful! Even better than I dared to hope!" He was looking in Ada's direction, but she felt he was looking through her rather than at her. He thought for a further few moments, then seemed to come out of his manic state, standing up straight and making minor adjustments to his clothes. "With no time to prepare, I just destabilized the magic restriction spell Odin himself placed on my room!" He puffed his chest out like a proud rooster as the color began to return to his face.

Noticing Ada's still clueless expression, Loki continued. "Magic is a fabric, as I explained. But pull a few threads here and there, and holes begin to form- the hard part is finding the right threads." He mimed a plucking motion with one hand. "Odin would never trust me to remain in my quarters if I had any hope of enchanting my way out of them; he spent a lot of time weaving the spell that suppresses my magical activity here. I had every intention of undoing his handiwork _eventually_, when I had more time to analyze it, but now it appears there is no need! I discovered the weak point when I cast the illusion spell on us!"

Ada took a careful step back. "But you enchanted the books you lent me last night to be invisible… how…?" she asked hesitantly.

"Odin is not so cruel a jailer as to deprive me of everyday conveniences…" Loki paused and smiled grimly. "Well, more accurately, my mother is not. She… _persuaded_ Odin to let the suppression spell have a bit of elasticity. A simple spell such as the one I cast on the books falls well within the bounds of that elasticity."

"So now what, are you going to take over the kingdom or something?" Ada tried to impart her question with a tone of sarcasm, but she was largely unsuccessful due to the fact that a violent power grab would not exactly be out of character for Loki.

He began to laugh again, and advanced on Ada. She instinctively took another step back, causing his laughter to increase in volume. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, still chuckling. She stared at the cold hand on her bare arm with disbelief and trepidation.

"Walk with me," Loki said, gently guiding her out of the library. "I'll show you something."

They walked the rest of the way to their adjoining doorways in silence; Ada took care to stay far enough ahead that she was never fully in Loki's embrace. They stopped at the open door.

Loki bent down and murmured into Ada's ear, "Do you trust me?"

Ada stepped to the side, out of his grasp. "_Hell_ no!" she spat, appalled that he would even ask after everything that had happened that night.

His smile in response was wide and dangerous. "Good! You shouldn't. Now, close one eye."

Ada regarded Loki suspiciously. "Why?"

He rolled his eyes. "Because it won't _work_ if you have both eyes open, I don't know why. Come now."

"What won't…?" Ada trailed off and sighed heavily. She reluctantly closed her right eye.

"Thank you," Loki said dramatically. He placed two fingers on her left temple, causing her to jump back slightly. He put his hand on her shoulder partly for comfort, but mostly to keep her still. "Shh, watch the doorway."

Ada did as she was told and gasped as the rectangular space seemed to burst into shimmering light. As her eye adjusted, she could see that the light was actually composed of thick glowing orange and yellow lines woven together. The pattern was lovely and even, and the lines… the _threads_, she supposed… seemed to pulse with energy and life. However, in the bottom right corner, there was a section that was dark and looked almost moth-eaten. She stared at it curiously.

"My handiwork," Loki said quietly. "I am one of the privileged few who can see spells with my naked eye, so any… _improvements_ I make to spells tend to go unnoticed."

"Do you see them all the time?" Ada asked, equally quiet. "That must be so distracting!"

Loki withdrew his fingers from her temple and the light faded. He laughed softly as she blinked. "No, only when I wish to. But indeed, it is very annoying, especially during crowded banquets." He winced at some unnamed memory.

"Thank you," Ada said genuinely. "That was… really amazing. But how come I could see the pattern in the shield spell on my balcony?"

Loki closed his eyes. "It's always more questions with you!" he exclaimed, exasperated. But when he opened them, his expression softened; there was a raw earnestness in his eyes. "If you are willing to visit me again tomorrow night, I promise I will answer more of them for you."

Ada did not know how to respond. The sight of her bed on the other side of the door had reminded her of how tired she was before she had even come into Loki's room, and her thoughts were starting to be clouded by sleep again. She looked up into his clear green eyes and purred, "Maybe."

She walked straight into her room without giving Loki another look, and shut the door behind her. Smiling, she leaned against it, sinking slowly to the floor, thankful to once again be by herself.

"Don't make me beg…" came a sultry whisper through the keyhole.

Ada shot up, snatched a pillow from her bed, yanked the pillowcase off of it, and stuffed it into the hole.


End file.
